THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT  OF 
FREDERIC  THOMAS  BLANCHARD 


Pretty  Michal  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^ 

^  (A  Szep  Mikhal)  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^  ^ 

^  ^  ^  ^  ^  -^  By  Maurus  Jokai 


Chicago  and  New  York  ♦  *  * 
Rand,  McNally  &  Company 


■0 


Copright,  1892,  by  Cassell  Publishing  Company. 
Copyright,  1896,  by  Rand,  McNally  &  Co. 


3  3..^/ 

PRETTY  MICHAL. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Wherein  is  shown  how  sagely  the  Rev.  Master  FrOhlich  brought  up 
his  motherless  daughter,  pretty  Michal. 

In  the  days  when  the  Turkish  Sultan  ruled  in  Hungary 
as  far  as  Ersekujvar  and  Eger,  the  German  Kaiser  from 
Eger  to  the  Zips  country,  and  George  Rakoczy,  Prince  of 
Transylvania,  from  Zips  to  the  Szeklerland — all  three  of 
whom  were  perpetually  fighting  among  themselves,  some- 
times two  against  one  and  sometimes  all  together  indis- 
criminately, so  that  the  inhabitants  had  a  very  lively  time 
of  it — in  those  days  (somewhere  about  1650)  the  learned 
and  reverend  Master  David  Frohlich  was  the  pride  of  the 
Keszmdr  Lyceum  and  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  As- 
tronomy there.  Master  Frohlich  knew  everything  which 
could  be  reasonably  expected  of  a  man.  He  knew  how 
to  calculate  solar  and  lunar  eclipses.  He  knew  how  to 
take  the  old  town-clock  to  pieces  when  it  got  out  of  order 
and  put  it  together  again.  He  could  fix  the  weather 
for  a  whole  year  beforehand.  He  understood  the  aureus 
calculus  and  could  cast  a  horoscope  with  any  man  living. 
He  knew  by  heart  which  trades  could  be  carried  on  best 
in  each  of  the  twelve  months.  He  had  at  his  fingers' 
ends  the  arcana  and  secret  properties  of  all  herbs  and 
plants,  could  explain  sympathies  and  antipathies,  nay, 


icty_7ii3 


2  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

he  could  be  implicitly  trusted   in    the   manufacture  of 
amulets. 

But  his  most  difficult  science  was  that  of  which  we  are 
now  about  to  speak. 

He  had  one  beautiful  daughter  whom  he  had  brought 
up  without  the  help  of  a  mother,  and  that,  surely,  is  a 
feat  of  which  any  man  might  be  proud!  His  wife  had 
died  on  the  very  day  on  which  she  had  given  birth  to  the 
child,  and  the  widower  had  forthwith  steadily  set  before 
himself  the  problem  of  educating  the  girl  without  the 
slightest  female  intervention. 

The  way  in  which  he  managed  by  artificial  contriv- 
ances to  find  a  substitute  for  mother's  milk  was  a  mira- 
cle of  itself;  but  even  that  was  ac  nothing  compared 
with  the  masterly  system  of  education  which  he  himself 
invented  and  applied,  in  order  to  make  his  daughter 
grow  up  a  discreet  and  modest  maiden,  despite  the  griev- 
ous want  of  maternal  supervision.  For  he  would  neither 
marry  again,  nor  trust  his  daughter  to  female  nurses  and 
servants,  nor  even  admit  any  of  his  own  kinswomen  into 
the  house. 

He  inaugurated  his  system  at  her  very  baptism,  by 
giving  his  daughter  the  name  of  Michal.  At  first  hear- 
ing, everyone,  of  course,  takes  this  for  a  man's  name, 
never  suspecting  that  a  damsel  lurks  behind  it;  perhaps 
only  one  among  a  thousand  even  knows  that  it  is  a  girl's 
name  after  all.  Was  not  one  of  the  wives  of  King  David 
called  Michal? — she,  I  mean,  who  laughed  when  she  saw 
the  great  King  dancing  in  the  street.  So  the  reverend 
and  learned  gentleman  christened  his  little  daughter 
Michal,  arguing  that  the  Evil  One  would  not  so  lightly 
venture  to  tackle  a  name  with  such  a  masculine  ring 
about  it. 

Then  he  personally  instructed  his  daughter  in  all  good 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  3 

things  from  her  babyhood  upward.  She  never  went 
to  school.  Everything,  from  the  alphabet  to  the  cate- 
chism, she  learnt  at  home.  Later  on,  as  the  damsel's 
mind  grew  stronger,  he  taught  her  not  only  the  Latin 
and  Greek  tongues,  but  all  the  sciences  which  are  useful 
and  necessary  in  life;  e.  g.,  the  tabular  calculations  as  to 
how  much  meat,  butter,  meal,  peas,  grain,  salt,  etc.,  a 
prudent  housewife  should  dispense  for  two,  four,  eight, 
sixteen,  etc.,  persons  per  day,  week,  or  month,  so  that 
the  domestics  may  neither  suffer  hunger  nor  yet  over- 
load their  stomachs  (N.  B.,  salt  must  be  particularly  well 
looked  after  lest  the  mice  get  at  it,  for  everyone  knows 
that  when  mice  eat  salt  they  multiply  prodigiously) ; 
item,  wherewith  to  feed  the  livestock ;  how  much  meal 
and  bran  should  be  got  in  exchange  from  the  miller  for 
so  much  wheat;  how  to  prepare  yeast,  knead  dough, 
bake  bread,  not  forgetting  to  always  turn  the  tub  toward 
the  north.  And  bread  making  in  the  Highlands  of  North 
Hungary  was  a  serious  business  in  those  days,  for  rye 
meal  was  often  scarce,  and  bread  had  to  be  made  of 
spelt,  buckwheat,  sweet  peas,  and  other  disgusting 
things.  Galen  especially  recommends  bean  meal  bread. 
Dioscorides,  on  the  other  hand,  prefers  a  judicious 
admixture  of  onions.  Nay,  in  hard  times,  when  no  corn 
is  to  be  had,  poor  people  must  be  prepared  to  make 
bread  of  dried  quinces,  medlars,  elderberries,  hips  and 
haws,  and  fungus,  while  the  clergy  and  people  of  quality 
must  be  content  with  honey  bread,  maize  bread,  or  even 
oil  cakes.  Flesh  bread,  too,  of  which  Pliny  so  much 
approves,  may  be  used  occasionally,  or  curd  bread, 
which  was  the  favorite  dish  of  Zoroaster.  The  Rev. 
Master  Frohlich  also  taught  his  daughter  how  to  preserve 
fruit,  and  how  to  convert  it  into  blue,  green,  red,  and 
yellow  jellies,  without  using  any  injurious  pigments. 


4  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

Moreover  in  these  sciences  beer  brewing  was  also 
included,  for  the  ladies  of  Keszmar  were  wont  to  make 
their  own  ale.  Every  citizen  there  owed  his  beer  to  his 
wife  and  daughter.  No  one  ever  thought  of  getting  it 
from  the  inn. 

Nor  was  that  all.  It  was  part  of  every  good  house- 
wife's business  in  those  days  to  keep  in  store  all  manner 
of  medicines,  and  to  know  how  to  concoct  health-giving 
cordials  from  hundreds  of  wonder-working  herbs.  To 
them  the  medical  science  was  far  from  being  the  finger 
and  thumb  work  which  our  modern  doctors  make  it, 
who,  after  prescribing  you  a  dozen  doses  or  so  of  ipe- 
cacuanha against  fever,  hold  themselves  absolved  from 
all  further  responsibility.  Our  grandmothers  had  effica- 
cious cordials  against  every  malady  under  the  sun,  and 
in  cases  of  serious  illness  they  dosed  the  patient  with  the 
infallible  elixir  known  as  Galen's  specific,  the  principal 
ingredients  of  which  were  Oriental  pearls,  red  coral,  and 
emeralds  powdered  fine,  cubeb  balsam,  lignum  aloes, 
muscat  blossoms,  frankincense,  musk,  bezoar,  manus 
Christi,  flesh-colored  rose  leaves,  oil  of  cinnamon,  and 
kirmis  berries.  Extraordinary,  indeed,  was  the  amount 
of  knowledge  which  the  housewife  of  yore  had  to  carry 
about  in  her  noddle! 

And  besides  the  generally  recognized  alphabets  of  our 
own  days  there  were,  at  that  time,  three-and-thirty  other 
symbols,  the  signification  whereof  every  good  cook  was 
bound  to  know  by  heart  before  she  could  mix  her  ingre- 
dients. An  oval  with  a  stroke  through  it  meant  "salt"  ; 
a  square  with  a  cross  beneath  it,  "cream  of  tartar";  a 
square  with  a  horn,  "oil";  a  horseshoe,  "spirits  of 
wine";  an  oblong,  "soap";  one  triangle,  "spring 
water"  ;  two  triangles,  point  to  point,  "distilled  water"; 
a  crown   with   a  star,  "regulus  stellatus."      Without  a 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  5 

knowledge  of  this  science,  no  woman  was  regarded  as 
perfect. 

And  then  again  the  various  kinds  of  aquavitae! 
Nowadays  most  of  us  do  not  even  know  the  proper 
meaning  of  the  term ;  then,  their  manifold  and  salutary 
effects  were  universally  recognized  and  appreciated. 
Everyone  knew,  for  instance,  that  they  kept  the  blood 
warm  and  fluid;  removed  all  venom;  dried  up  all  slug- 
gish humors;  strengthened  the  memory,  etc.  Then 
there  were  various  mysterious  oils,  the  most  costly  of 
which  was  victriol  (quite  a  different  thing  from  vitriol), 
which  our  great-grandmothers  called  "potable  gold,"  to 
say  nothing  of  a  multitude  of  waters,  vinegars,  acids, 
antidotes,  plasters,  and  pastils  no  reputable  housewife 
could  afford  to  be  without,  for  was  she  not  the  natural 
doctor  and  nurse  of  the  whole  family? 

And  the  art  of  cookery  was  not  a  whit  less  abstruse 
than  the  art  of  pharmacy.  The  stomachs  of  our  ances- 
tors were  accustomed  to  very  complicated  dishes. 
Cookery  was  a  more  difficult  science  than  metaphysics. 

Then,  too,  the  whole  charge  of  the  garden  lay  upon 
the  housewife's  shoulders,  and  gardening  was  by  no 
means  the  simple  affair  it  is  nowadays.  Our  great- 
grandmothers,  in  their  gardening  capacity,  knew  a  whole 
host  of  things  which  have  long  since  been  forgotten.  To 
prevent  the  fruit  falling  from  the  tree  before  its  time, 
they  bored  a  hole  in  the  roots  and  drove  through  it  a 
whitethorn  peg;  to  prevent  the  cherries  from  ripening 
too  soon,  they  surrounded  the  roots  with  unslacked  lime; 
when  they  wanted  scarlet  pippins,  they  softened  the 
grafts  in  pike's  blood,  and  when  they  wished  to  propa- 
gate aromatic  fruit,  they  bored  a  hole  in  the  trunk  of  the 
tree  and  filled  it  with  fragrant  oil.  Our  grandmothers 
were   so  clever  that  they   could  compel   a  pear  tree   to 


6  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

bring  forth  grapes ;  they  could  grow  citrons  as  large  as 
your  head,  figs  with  almond  kernels  inside  and  the  let- 
ters of  the  alphabet  outside,  and  even  nuts  without  shells. 
They  knew  how  to  graft  medlars  on  coffee  trees,  which 
then  produced  an  entirely  new  fruit,  exceedingly  lus- 
cious and  fragrant.  When  they  wanted  the  bitter  almond 
to  bear  sweet  almonds,  they  took  counsel  of  Theophras- 
tus  and  drove  iron  nails  into  the  roots.  They  knew  the 
good  and  bad  effects  of  winter  upon  all  kinds  of  garden 
produce.  Even  the  simple,  unsophisticated  potato,  only 
just  introduced  from  America,  and  called  by  them  adenes 
cardensis,  was  powerless  against  their  innumerable  arti- 
fices. Our  great-grandmothers  knew  and  cultivated 
scores  of  vegetables  the  very  names  of  which  are  unknown 
to  their  posterity.  All  their  dishes  were  pungent  with 
the  most  exquisite  spices.  They  carried  on  a  regular 
trade  in  all  manner  of  wholesome  herbs  and  pigment 
plants.  Saffron  alone  was  taken  by  the  ton  to  the  Zips 
markets,  and  thence  exported  to  Turkey.  The  kitchen 
garden  was  a  veritable  gold  mine  to  the  thrifty  house- 
wife. 

Nor  must  the  flower  garden  be  forgotten.  In  those 
days  a  speculation  in  tulips  was  going  on  which  can  only 
be  compared  with  the  Bourse  speculations  of  our  own 
days.  The  horticulturist  had  to  carry  about  in  his  head 
a  whole  dictionary  of  French  botanical  terms  if  he  meant 
to  make  a  living.  A  lady  gardener  who  understood  her 
business  had  to  know  what  species  of  flowers  could  be 
planted  and  sown  under  the  zodiacal  signs  T,  '6  ,  TI,  or 
53>  fLj  "2;  to  which  the  signs  :£^,  TTj,,  and  ^  arc  baleful; 
and  how  seldom  those  flourish  which  are  planted  under 
the  signs  Y3,  ^,  and  X  ;  in  fact,  she  had  to  have  her 
almanac  at  her  fingers'  ends.  The  floral  art  had  its  own 
literature  and  its  own  professors,  who  disposed  of  tulips 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  7 

and  carnations  to  the  value  of  millions,  and  sent  whole 
fleets  laden  with  bulbs  and  plants  to  China  and  America. 
Nay,  the  most  distinguished  writers  of  Europe  did  not 
deem  it  beneath  their  dignity  to  dabble  in  the  flower 
trade,  just  as  the  writers  of  our  own  day  dabble  in  poli- 
tics. 

It  was  certainly  much  more  beneficial  for  young  wom- 
en to  read  about  such  things  than  to  fill  their  heads  with 
the  scandal  and  tomfoolery  of  these  later  times. 

If,  however,  they  must  needs  know  something  about 
love  and  antipathy,  they  could  gather  from  these  sage 
botanical  records  that  the  fig  tree  and  the  rue  love  each 
other,  for  which  reason  it  is  advisable  to  plant  rue  close 
to  fig  trees,  especially  as  it  keeps  away  those  sworn  ene- 
mies of  figs,  the  frogs ;  that  the  asparagus  loves  the  reed 
and  the  rosemary  the  sage,  for  which  reason  whoever 
sets  about  planting  rosemary  must  first  of  all  rub  his 
hand  well  with  sage  leaves,  so  that  the  young  transplants 
may  thrive ;  that  the  orange  tree  loves  the  cypress  and 
the  vine  the  cherry  tree,  and  that  the  lily  thrives  beside 
the  rose,  but  also  beside  the  garlic — 'tis  only  a  matter  of 
taste.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  plants  which  hate, 
which  absolutely  cannot  endure  each  other.  For  in- 
stance, when  one  plants  the  noble  anthora  close  to  the 
wild  najollus,  it  dries  up  and  withers,  despite  the  most 
constant  care;  the  angelica  and  the  hemlock  infallibly 
throttle  each  other;  while  the  antipathy  of  the  vine  to 
the  colewort  goes  so  far  that  when  a  man  who  has  drunk 
a  little  too  much  wine  eats  of  the  colewort  he  instantly 
becomes  sober,  and  if  you  mix  a  little  wine  in  the  pot 
where  the  colewort  is  boiling  it  will  never  get  soft,  stew 
it  as  long  as  you  will. 

Now  pretty  Michal  mastered  all  these  sciences  not 
only  with  edifying  assiduity,  but  even  with  real  enthusi- 


8  PREETY  MICH  A  L. 

asm, ;  she  found  pleasure,  employment,  and  profit  there- 
in. Her  books,  her  science,  and  her  flowers  not  only- 
rejoiced  her  heart,  they  filled  her  pockets  likewise.  Her 
garden  especially  was  a  veritable  gold  mine,  for  while  in 
those  days  a  goose  cost  only  a  shilling  and  a  young  ox 
ten  shillings,  no  one  considered  paragon  tulip  bulbs  dear 
at  ten  pounds  a  piece.  But  (and  this  in  Pastor  Frohlich's 
opinion  was  the  greatest  gain  of  all)  the  flowers  and  the 
books  left  the  damsel  no  time  for  idle  pranks;  to  this  end 
the  whole  pedagogical  system  of  the  reverend  gentleman 
had  been  directed  from  the  very  first. 

Whenever  his  lectures  called  him  away  from  home, 
the  professor  took  down  his  grammars,  lexicons,  and 
other  folios  before  he  started,  and  gave  Michal  as  much 
to  learn  by  heart  as  would  occupy  her  the  whole  time  he 
was  away  at  the  Lyceum  ;  then  he  locked  the  house  door 
and  walked  off  with  the  key  in  his  pocket.  The  very 
first  thing  he  did  when  he  came  home  again  was  to  make 
her  repeat  the  set  task  from  beginning  to  end.  Such  a 
method  is  infallible.  A  servant-maid,  a  governess,  may 
deceive  the  cleverest  cross-questioner,  the  ancient  folios 
never.  They  tell  him  at  once  whether  the  damsel's  eyes 
have  been  fixed  on  the  book  all  the  time,  or  whether 
they've  been  straying  about  elsewhere. 

In  this  way  pretty  Michal  picked  up  a  very  consider- 
able store  of  general  information. 

Sundays  and  festivals  were  the  only  days  on  which  she 
left  the  house,  and  then  she  used  to  walk  to  church  by 
her  father's  side.  On  such  occasions  she  wore  a  coffee- 
brown  frock,  with  a  collar  reaching  to  the  chin,  and 
sleeves  which  hid  the  very  tips  of  her  fingers.  The  other 
girls  prided  themselves  on  the  taste  with  which  they 
adorned  their  girdles,  but  pretty  Michal's  girdle  could 
not  boast  of  as  much  as  a  silver  buckle.  Her/ar/a,  as 
the  headdress  of  the  Hungarian  maidens  is  called,  was 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  9 

quite  black,  and  over  it  was  thrown  a  veil  which  com- 
pletely covered  her  face  in  front,  and  hung  down  so  far 
over  her  shoulders  behind  that  it  was  absolutely  impossible 
to  make  out  whether  her  twin  long,  pendent  pigtails  were 
blond  or  chestnut-brown.  Her  eyes,  too,  were  not  per- 
mitted to  declare  whether  they  were  black  or  blue.  Dur- 
ing service  they  were  well  hidden  behind  their  long  lashes, 
for  she  modestly  kept  them  fixed  upon  her  prayer-book 
the  Avhole  time,  and  if  she  raised  them  during  the  sermon 
it  was  only  to  rivet  them  upon  the  preacher.  Moreover, 
the  very  wise  and  proper  regulation  which  not  only  sep- 
arated the  sexes,  but  made  the  men  sit  right  behind  the 
women,  prevented  her  from  ogling  anybody  even  if  she 
had  a  mind  to.  As  for  the  students,  they  sat  so  high  up 
in  the  choir  that  they  could  see  nothing  from  thence  but 
the  notice-boards  and  the  Decalogue. 

Further,  the  reverend  gentleman  never  took  Michal  to 
weddings  or  other  entertainments,  the  canonical  prescrip- 
tions forbidding  a  clergyman's  daughter  to  dance.  In 
fact,  he  did  not  even  let  her  make  the  acquaintance  of 
other  girls,  for  fear  she  should  get  a  liking  for  the  friv- 
olous ways  of  the  gossiping  minxes. 

We  must  not  forget  to  mention,  too,  that  his  house 
was  so  constructed  as  to  exclude  by  anticipation  every 
possible  temptation.  All  the  windows  of  pretty  Michal's 
bedroom  looked  out  upon  the  courtyard,  wliich  was  shut 
in  on  two  sides  by  the  blank  walls  of  the  opposite  houses, 
while  the  third  side  opened  into  the  garden,  which  was 
cut  off  from  the  outer  world  by  a  still  higher  wall  richly 
embroidered  with  iron  nails  and  sharp  spikes.  Thus, 
pretty  Michal's  heart  might  be  regarded  as  a  stronghold 
which  no  foe  could  capture  either  by  force  or  by  fraud; 
and  in  the  light  of  a  foe  was  regarded  every  mortal  of  the 
masculine  gender  who  did  not  happen  to  be  a  favorite  of 
the  reverend  gentleman. 


CHAPTER    II. 

Wherein  is  shown  how  the  evil  dragon  brought  to  naught  all  the  sage 
devices  of  our  reverend  friend. 

The  Rev.  Professor  David  Frohlich  had  a  very  par- 
ticular favorite,  who  can  also  be  said  to  have  deserved 
that  rare  distinction.  The  name  of  this  young  man  was 
Henry  Catsrider — a  very  curious  name,  certainly,  yet 
the  bearer  thereof  had  very  little  ridicule  to  fear  in  con- 
sequence, for  his  big,  strong  frame  inspired  his  fellow- 
scholars  with  respect.  For  the  noble  art  of  wrestling 
(commended  of  old,  remember,  by  no  less  a  person  than 
Aristotle)  had  never  been  neglected  in  our  schools,  and 
in  the  art  of  wrestling  no  one  could  vie  with  Catsrider 
except  a  young  Calvinist  from  Kassa  called  Valentine 
Kalondai.  The  latter,  however,  could  well  hold  his 
own,  even  against  Catsrider,  and  a  very  pretty  sight  it 
was  to  see  them  contending  together  on  the  village  green, 
each  hugging  the  other  closely  and  planting  his  chin 
firmly  on  his  opponent's  shoulder.  Catsrider  had  long, 
coarse,  light  hair,  twisted  up  into  a  knot  on  both  sides 
of  his  head,  and  a  waxed  and  pointed  mustache. 

Unhappily,  although  the  Hungarian  lad  was  quite  a 
match  for  the  Zipser  in  all  corporeal  exercises,  in  men- 
tal contests  he  was  far  inferior  to  him.  There,  indeed, 
Catsrider  stood  without  a  rival.  He  was  always  emi- 
nent-issimus  in  every  science,  while  Valentine  Kalondai 
was  constantly  at  the  bottom  of  his  class. 

Ex  moribus — in  morals — there  was  also  all  the  differ- 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  II 

ence  in  the  world  between  the  two  students.  Valentine 
Kalondai  was  no  despiser  of  wine  and  music.  He  even 
lived  on  friendly  terms  with  folks  like  the  Silesian  Sim- 
plicissimus,  whom  everyone  else  looked  down  upon  as  a 
loafing  vagabond,  who  could  do  absolutely  nothing  but 
blow  the  trumpet ;  while  Catsrider  was  the  model  of  a 
well  ordered  youth.  It  was  now  ten  years  since  he  had 
come,  a  poor  boy,  to  Keszmar,  and  all  that  time  he  had 
conscientiously  supported  himself  by  the  labor  of  his 
hands.  He  meant  to  take  orders,  and  therefore  dili- 
gently studied  theology;  but,  besides  that,  he  served  in 
the  house  of  the  Rev.  David  Frohlich  and  assisted  that 
gentleman  in  his  Museum  Physicum,  wherefore  the 
professor  loved  him  dearly,  and  long  ago  destined  him 
to  be  pretty  Michal's  consort  in  her  journey  through 
life. 

Valentine  Kalondai,  indeed,  had  no  need  to  appropri- 
ate a  very  great  amount  of  learning.  He  had  a  rich 
widowed  mother  at  Kassa,  from  whom,  when  he  came  of 
age,  he  was  to  take  over  his  patrimony.  He  had  only 
been  sent  to  the  Keszmdr  Lyceum  to  pick  up  as  much 
knowledge  as  might  be  necessary  for  a  citizen  of  Kass? 
who  hoped  one  day  to  be  elected  sheriff  of  his  native 
town ;  he  only  required  to  learn  as  much  Latin  as  his 
late  father  of  blessed  memory,  who  likewise  had  held 
that  dignity,  and  part  of  whose  office  it  had  been  to 
pronounce  over  delinquents  the  capite  plectetur^  or  the 
more  merciful  harum  palzarum^  and  correspond  with  pen 
as  well  as  with  cannon  with  the  Imperialist  generals, 
though  it  certainly  must  be  admitted  that  he  could  give 
a  better  account  of  himself  with  the  cannon  than  with  the 
pen.  Valentine  therefore  had  no  call  to  learn  abso- 
lutely more  than  he  chose. 

Henry,  on  the  other  hand,  was  obliged  to  turn  night 


12  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

into  day  in  order  to  cut  a  decent  figure  at  the  examina- 
tion which  preceded  his  ordination ;  and,  to  do  him  jus- 
tice, he  passed  through  it  with  the  utmost  distinction. 
He  was  immediately  afterward  presented  to  the  living  of 
Nagy-Leta — which  fortunately  happened  to  be  vacant  at 
that  very  time — naturally  on  condition  that  during  the 
year  of  grace,  conceded  as  usual  to  the  widow  of  the  late 
incumbent,  he  was  to  make  no  claim  whatever  upon  the 
resources  of  the  benefice.  On  that  solemn  day,  the  Rev. 
David  Frohlich  invited  the  new  pastor  to  dinner  to  meet 
the  superintendent  and  the  presbyters. 

After  the  meal  was  over,  pretty  Michal  was  also 
allowed  to  appear  at  table,  first,  to  be  complimented  by 
the  superintendent  on  account  of  the  banquet  they  had 
all  enjoyed  so  much — whereupon  her  face,  ruddy  enough 
already  from  the  kitchen  fire,  grew  ruddier  still — and 
secondly,  that  she  might  just  moisten  her  lips  with  a 
little  wine  in  honor  of  her  father's  guests. 

When  the  guests  had  all  withdrawn,  pretty  Michal  had 
the  tables  cleared  away  by  the  maids,  and  very  carefully 
put  all  the  soiled  napkins  and  tablecloths  into  the  cup- 
board, and  all  the  old  ancestral  pottery  and  glazed  earth- 
enware upon  the  dresser.  When  all  this  had  been  done, 
the  professor  bade  his  little  daughter  remain  in  the  room. 
He  had  something  to  say  to  her. 

The  learned  gentleman  was  in  a  very  good  humor,  not 
only  in  consequence  of  the  exhilarating  drinks  he  had 
drunk,  and  the  lively  table-talk  he  had  freely  indulged 
in,  but  also  on  account  of  something  else  besides. 

He  lit  his  pipe  and  began  to  smoke,  although  he  was 
still  wearing  his  revere/ide,  which  ought,  properly  speak- 
ing, never  to  betray  the  faintest  odor  of  tobacco. 

"My  daughter  Michal,"  said  he  at  last,  with  a  sly 
assumption  of  gravity,  "we   did   not  finish  our  pensum 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  13 

to-day.  And  the  rule  is:  'Nulla  dies  sine  linea!' 
What  does  that  mean?" 

"One  should  never  let  a  day  pass  without  doing  one's 
allotted  task,"  answered  Michal. 

"Then  bring  hither  your  exercise-book." 

The  damsel  dutifully  obeyed.  In  the  kitchen  all  that 
it  was  necessary  to  do  had  already  been  done,  so  the 
voice  of  science  could  be  listened  to  without  self- 
reproach.  She  sat  her  down  therefore  and  took  up  her 
pen,  or,  as  our  ancestors  would  then  have  said,  her 
cala7nus. 

"It  is  wholesome  to  exercise  the  mind  after  a  long 
meal,"  said  the  learned  gentleman  from  the  midst  of  the 
clouds  of  smoke  which  enveloped  him,  "but  it  would  not 
be  well  if  every  day  was  spent  in  such  junketing:  'Qui 
amat  vitam  longam,  amet  mensam  brevem!'  Write 
that  down  in  your  book  and  translate  it." 

Michal  wrote  and  translated  at  the  same  time:  "Let 
him  who  would  see  many  days  keep  a  spare  table!" 

"The  Italians  say:  'La  cucina  piccola  fa  la  casa 
grande,  la  tavola  e  un  ladrone  segreto!'  Write  that 
down  also  and  tell  me  what  it  means." 

The  damsel  recited  as  she  wrote:  "A  small  kitchen 
enlarges  a  house,  but  a  liberal  table  is  a  secret  thief!" 

"That  is  what  Petrus  Novus  said  to  Hugotius  Fagiola 
when  the  latter  lost  two  cities  because  of  a  single  ban- 
quet. Write:  'Plures  interierunt  vinolentia  quam  vio- 
lenta!'     How  would  you  construe  that?" 

"More  men  have  perished  through  wine  than  through 
violence." 

"Very  good  I  Nevertheless  on  extraordinary  days 
extraordinary  things  must  happen,  and  to-day  has  been 
no  ordinary  day,  for  it  has  seen  a  clergyman  ordained 
and  a  maiden  sued  for." 


14  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

In  an  instant  every  trace  of  color  had  vanished  from 
pretty  Michal's  face. 

The  learned  gentleman  puffed  away  tremendously,  and 
quoted  these  saws  in  the  midst  of  volumes  of  smoke. 

"What  saith  Dubravius?  'Si  qua  voles  nubere  apte, 
nube  pari!' — Wilt  thou  marry  well,  so  marry  within  thy 
station!"  Again  Ambrosius,  in  answering  the  question 
what  one  should  look  for  in  a  consort,  saith:  'Ammo- 
rem,  morem,  rem' — Love,  morals,  means." 

A  good  maxim,  truly,  but  for  all  that  the  damsel  did  not 
write  it  down  in  her  exercise-book. 

"And  here  we  have  a  wooer  who  possesses  all  three. 
He  brings  love  with  good  morals  and  has  somewhat 
besides.  His  station  in  life  indeed  is  not  very  illustri- 
ous, for,  like  me,  he  is  only  a  parson.  But  Macrobius 
saith,  'Amores  sunt  sicut  flores' — Maidens  are  like  flow- 
ers, that  is  to  say,  they  soon  wither;  and  as  Drexelius 
Trismegistus  hath  it,  'Saepius  ima  petet  melius  qui  scan- 
dere  novit' — He  often  sinks  into  the  depths  who  seeks 
the  heights.  Write  that  in  your  book,  my  daughter,  'tis 
a  golden  precept!  Nor  be  appalled  at  your  suitor's 
poverty.  Cyprian  saith:  'Paupertas  dura  sed  secura  et 
sine  cura' — Poverty  is  hard,  but  hardy,  and  has  naught 
to  care  for.     Write  that  down  also,  my  daughter  Michal!" 

But  pretty  Michal  did  not  record  these  golden  max- 
ims, either  in  the  original  or  yet  a  translation.  On  the 
contrary  she  laid  her  pen  aside  and  said:  "I  don't  like 
him!" 

The  reverend  gentleman  gave  a  great  start  of  astonish- 
ment. "That  is  a  paradox.  To  love  no  one — that  is 
possible;  but  not  to  love  a  particular  person — that  is 
absurd.  Have  you  then  any  idea  what  love  is?  'Amantes 
sunt  dementes' — Lovers  are  demented.  What  don't 
you  like   about  him?     His  red  hair,  eh?     'Homo  rufus 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  15 

rare  bonus,  sed  si  bonus  valde  bonus' — A  red-haired 
man  is  rarely  good,  but  if  good  then  very  good  indeed. 
Or  perhaps  you  don't  like  him  because  he  belongs  to 
another  nation?  Nay,  but  mark  what  the  wise  Queen 
Christina  used  to  say:  'There  are  only  two  kinds  of 
nations  on  the  whole  earth,  the  god-fearing  and  the  god- 
less. If  you  don't  like  him  now,  you'll  learn  to  like  him 
by  and  by.  The  Italians  say:  'Amore  none  senza 
amaro' — Love  is  not  without  bitterness.  Every  good 
girl  has  to  be  shoved  out  of  doors  by  her  parents, 
because  she  would  much  rather  stay  at  home  than  go 
away ;  but  later  on  she  is  very  grateful  to  them  for  get- 
ting her  off  their  hands." 

But  pretty  Michal,  thanks  to  her  much  learning  and 
her  long  domestic  sway,  had  grown  up  with  such  a  stout 
heart  that  in  this  one  thing  she  even  dared  to  gainsay  her 
father  and  all  his  philosophic  authorities  to  boot,  for  she 
said  to  the  reverend  gentleman : 

"Nevertheless,  I  can't  like  him  who  desires  my  hand 
from  you  because  I  don't  like  him,  and  I  don't  like  him 
because  I  like  another." 

On  hearing  these  words,  the  scholar  let  his  pipe  fall 
from  his  mouth. 

"That  is  indeed  an  argumentum  ad  homiman^'"  said 
he.  "You  love  another,  eh?  Where  on  earth  did  you 
pick  him  up?  Where  did  you  set  your  eyes  upon  him? 
When  have  you  spoken  to  him?" 

The  maiden  cast  down  her  eyes  and  said  nothing. 

This  was  too  much.  The  learned  professor  rose  from 
his  chair  straightway,  and  said  in  an  austere,  dictatorial 
voice:  'Write  in  your  book,  'Virginitas  dum  aspicitur, 
inficitur' — Where  maidenhood  is  concerned  mere  inspec- 
tion is  infection.     Whom  have  you  allowed  to  look  into 

your  eyes?" 
2 


l6  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

"No  one,"  answered  Michal. 

"No  one!     Where  then  have  you  spoken  to  anyone?" 

"Nowhere." 

"But  if  you  have  spoken  to  no  one,  neither  with  your 
eyes  nor  yet  with  your  mouth,  how  could  you  possibly 
have  fallen  in  love  with  anyone?  Make  a  clean  breast  of 
it.  You  know  that  the  smallest  lie  is  a  greater  sin  than 
the  greatest  crime  honestly  confessed.  In  what  way 
have  you  been  carrying  on  this  intrigue?" 

"By  writing." 

"Has  anyone  written  to  you  then?" 

"Yes,  and  I've  replied." 

"But  how  is  that  possible?  My  house  is  barred  and 
bolted  night  and  day.  You  cannot  even  look  out  upon 
the  street.  You  were  never  allowed  to  go  anywhere 
without  me.  The  garden  is  protected  by  a  moat.  A 
suspicious  character  could  not  possibly  get  in  here  unless 
he  flew  down  from  the  sky." 

"It  came  down  from  the  sky." 

"It!     What  do  you  mean  by  it?" 

"The  dragon." 

At  first  the  professor's  mind  wandered  off  to  the 
dragon  which  St.  George  had  scotched,  but  perhaps  not 
quite  killed;  but  he  bethought  himself  and  asked,  "A 
paper  dragon,*  I  suppose?" 

"Yes.  They  were  flying  a  dragon  in  the  market-place, 
and  I  was  watching  it  for  a  long  time.  Suddenly  it  fell 
into  our  garden,  and  remained  hanging  on  an  apple  tree. 
I  went  to  take  it  down,  and  when  I  had  it  in  my  hand  I 
saw  that  it  was  covered  all  over  with  verses  addressed  to 
me,  and  they  were  so  lovely  that  I  cannot  find  words  to 
describe  them." 

*  Sdrkany,  like  its  German  equivalent  Drache,  means  a  kite  as 
well  as  a  dragon. 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  17 

"Lovely!  pshaw!  profane  scribble  I  call  them.  Does 
not  Macrobius  say:  'Ignibus  iste  liber  quod  ipse  igni- 
bus  liber!' — Into  the  flames  with  that  book  if  thou 
wouldst  escape  the  flames  thyself!  And  what  makes 
you  think  that  these  shameless  verses  were  addressed 
to  you?" 

"They  were  no  such  thing.  Had  they  been  shameless 
verses  I  should  have  thrown  them  away.  They  were 
beautiful,  true-hearted  verses,  with  my  name  written 
over  every  one  of  them,  for  there  is  no  other  girl  here 
called  Michal.     I  tried  to  answer  them." 

"To  answer  them!     How?" 

"I  fastened  what  I  wrote  to  the  dragon  with  the  writ- 
ten side  turned  inward,  then,  with  the  help  of  the  pack- 
thread which  still  remained  attached  thereto,  I  let  it 
mount  up  again," 

"But  suppose  he  to  whom  it  belonged  never  got  it?" 

"He  most  certainly  got  it,  for  the  next  day  he  sent  me 
the  answer." 

"Again  by  means  of  the  dragon?" 

"No.     The  next  day  he  wrote  me  by  the  balloon." 

The  balloon  in  question  was  a  large  inflated  box  blad- 
der, covered  over  with  calf  skin.  The  youth  of  the  town 
used  this  balloon  in  their  athletic  exercises,  knocking  it 
into  the  air  with  their  fists,  and  otherwise  disporting 
themselves  therewith. 

"I  see  it  all  now.  The  rascal  placed  his  letter  inside 
the  balloon,  and  threw  it  into  our  garden.  You  took 
out  your  letter,  stuck  in  your  reply,  and  pitched  the 
balloon  back  again." 

To  think  that  neither  Theophrastus  nor  Trismegistus 
should  have  foreseen  such  a  case:  an  aerial  corre- 
spondence, carried  on  without  the  intervention  of  the 
post-office! 


1 8  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

"And  how  far  has  this  precious  correspondence  pro- 
ceeded?" 

"We  have  both  sworn  eternal  fidelity  to  each  other." 

"There  we  have  it!  What  is  the  use  of  bolts  and  bars 
and  all  human  wisdom?  So  you  have  pledged  away 
your  hand  without  your  father's  consent.  Don't  you 
know  that  among  the  Protestants  the  consent  of  the  par- 
ents is  requisite  to  a  marriage;  without  it,  no  betrothal  is 
valid  and  no  wedding  can  be  solemnized?" 

"Then  has  he  who  demands  my  hand  from  you  brought 
with  him  the  written  consent  of  his  father  to  his  mar- 
riage with  me?" 

"He  has  no  father;  he  is  an  orphan." 

"You  said  just  now  that  the  smallest  lie  was  a  greater 
sin  than  the  greatest  crime  honestly  confessed.  And  I 
say  that  he,  my  suitor,  has  lied.  He  has  a  father  who  is 
a  rich  man  of  high  degree." 

"Who  told  you  so?" 

"The  dragon  and  the  balloon.  He  boasted  of  it  to  a 
friend,  and  the  heavenly  posts  have  brought  me  tidings 
thereof." 

Now,  indeed,  the  reverend  gentleman  was  as  fairly 
caught  as  ever  the  devil  was  by  a  witch's  foot.  To  this 
reply  there  was  absolutely  no  rejoinder. 

"I'll  take  him  to  task  for  it  to-morrow,"  said  he, 
"and  meantime  I  postpone  the  inquiry.  After  it  is  over, 
however,  I  shall  require  the  name  of  this  rascally 
seducer.  And  now,  my  daughter  Michal,  proceed  to 
your  chamber  and  consider  yourself  in  arrest  there  for 
the  next  four  and  twenty  hours." 

And  thus  ended  the  festive  day  on  which  Henry  Cats- 
rider  was  ordained  a  priest. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Wherein  is  clearly  shown  that  he  who  tends  the  sheep  is  much  more 
honorable  than  he  who  slaughters  them. 

Next  morning  the  reverend  gentleman  sent  for  Henry 
and  submitted  him  to  a  very  severe  cross-examination, 
which  lasted  for  more  than  an  hour.  When  Henry  at 
last  departed,  he  was  not  only  as  red  as  a  boiled  crab, 
but  he  made  his  exit  head  foremost  and  somewhat  pre- 
cipitately; from  which  circumstance  the  maid-servants, 
who  were  listening  all  the  time  at  the  kitchen  door,  drew 
various  conclusions. 

Immediately  afterward  the  reverend  gentleman's  bell 
rang  three  times,  which  signified  that  Miss  Michal  was 
wanted  in  the  library. 

The  reverend  gentleman  was  in  full  canonicals;  he 
united  in  himself  at  that  moment  both  the  paternal  and 
the  maternal  authority.  He  was  surrounded  by  open 
books,  like  a  general  in  the  midst  of  his  staff;  other 
books,  bound  in  pigskin,  stood  on  the  shelves  like  a 
phalanx  drawn  up  in  battle  array,  and  on  the  cupboards 
and  presses  stood  stuffed  birds  and  the  skeletons  of  vari- 
ous animals,  like  so  many  witnesses  or  accusers.  The 
human  skeleton  in  the  corner  seemed  particularly  on  the 
alert.  The  electrical  machine  was  also  in  readiness  to 
contribute  its  flashes;  but  the  only  being  among  all  these 
objects  which  gave  any  sign  of  life  was  the  big  clock,  on 
the  top  of  which  stood  a  little  dog,  which  kept  time  with 
the  pendulum  by  wagging  his  tail  and  thrusting  out  his 
tongue. 

»9 


so  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

Michal,  during  the  whole  of  the  following  examina- 
tion, fixed  her  eyes  steadily  on  the  mechanical  dog;  and 
ever  afterward,  when  she  looked  back  upon  that  momen- 
tous interview,  she  always  saw  before  her  the  figure  of 
the  little  dog  wagging  his  tail  and  thrusting  out  his 
tongue. 

"My  daughter  Michal,"  began  the  scholar,  "I  have 
spoken  to  the  candidate  of  faith  and  love,  and  learnt 
everything  from  him.  On  my  asking  him  whether  he 
had  a  father,  he  aswered  yes.  What  is  he?  A  man  of 
position  who  dwells  at  Zeb,  and  is  the  chief  judge  of  the 
place.  I  asked  him  why  he  had  left  his  father  and  given 
himself  out  for  an  orphan.  He  said  he  had  done  so 
because  his  father  was  a  Catholic,  while  he  himself  de- 
sired to  become  a  Protestant  clergyman.  Such  a  desire 
is  certainly  most  praiseworthy.  A  young  man  who  is 
ready  to  eat  the  bread  of  affliction  rather  than  be  false 
to  his  conscience  reveals  a  great  character.  Moreover 
this  answer  is  the  best  defense  to  the  charge  you  have 
brought  against  him,  viz.,  that  of  daring  to  make  a  pro- 
posal of  marriage  without  his  father's  consent.  The 
law  does  not  recognize  the  consent  of  a  Catholic  father, 
but  only  of  a  Protestant.  Therefore  Henry  Catsrider 
stands  absolved  from  the  accusation  that  he  knowingly 
perpetrated  a  fraud.  Reticence  after  all  is  not  false- 
hood. Then,  too,  his  new  confession  of  faith  releases 
him  from  all  parental  authority,  thus  putting  the  father 
completely  out  of  court." 

The  big  folios  and  the  stuffed  birds  signified  their  ap- 
proval by  saying  nothing,  and  the  skeleton  also  was  silent 
as  to  the  fact  that  his  own  head  had  formerly  been  sev- 
ered from  his  body  because  he  had  put  into  practice 
similar  subtleties  in  his  lifetime;  only  the  automatical 
dog  kept  on  wagging  his  tail,  as  if  to  say,  "No,  no!" 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  21 

and  professing  his  scorn  of  the  professor's  sophisms  by 
thrusting  out  his  tongue. 

Michal  answered  not  a  word. 

"Thus  all  your  negations  are  confuted,  and  now  let  us 
hear  your  affirmations.  What  is  the  name  of  the  young 
man  who  has  presumed  to  make  you  a  declaration  of 
love?" 

"Valentine  Kalondai. '* 

The  learned  man  no  sooner  heard  this  name  than  ht. 
smote  violently  with  the  palm  of  his  hand  on  the  volume 
of  Macrobius  lying  open  before  him. 

"  'Quis  hominum?' — What  sort  of  a  man  is  he?" 

"An  honest  man!"  cried  Michal,  with  flashing  eyes. 

"What  do  you  know  about  it?  You  only  go  by  his 
outward  appearance.  'Quanta  especies  sed  cerebrum 
non  habet' — a  handsome  face  but  no  brains.  'Non  bene 
casta  caro  quae  bene  pasta  caro' — Well  fed,  ill  bred. 
But  I  have  had  occasion  to  learn  something  about  the 
fellow's  inner  man.  'Flocci,  nihili' — A  feather  brain,  a 
nonentity.  'Classis  primse  exultimis' — Always  the  first  in 
his  class,  counting  from  the  bottom.  And  how  about  his 
morals?  He  is  a  wine-bibber.  'Ubi  vinum  intrat,  ibi 
ratio  exit' — When  the  wine's  in,  the  wit's  out.  He  is  a 
dancer  and  a  serenader.  He  goes  about  with  musicians 
and  other  lewd  fellows.  All  that,  indeed,  might  have 
been  overlooked ;  but  do  you  know  what  the  trade  of  his 
parents  was,  ay,  and  still  is?  Did  he  confess  that  to  you 
in  his  sinful  correspondence?  And  this  trade,  remem- 
ber, he  must  carry  on  to  his  dying  day,  for  he  does  not 
know  enough — far  from  it — to  raise  him  to  a  higher 
rank.  Do  you  know  whose  wife  you  would  be  if  your 
senseless  wish  were  to  be  fulfilled?" 

The  girl  grew  pale.  There  had  been  nothing  said 
about  this  in  the  correspondence. 


2a  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

The  professor  took  down  his  note-book  and  read  out 
the  name  and  description  of  the  accused: 

" 'Parentes,  Sarah,  vidua  macellarii'  —  Sarah,  the 
butcher's  widow.  His  father  was  a  butcher,  and  he  will 
be  a  butcher  too.  People  who  work  in  blood !  What 
do  you  say  to  that?  Can  the  daughter  of  the  clergyman 
become  the  wife  of  a  butcher?  And  when  she  has  to 
choose  between  a  man  who  tends  the  sheep  of  the  Lord 
and  a  man  who  slaughters  cattle,  how  can  she  possibly 
give  her  hand  to  the  latter?  Have  I  brought  you  up  all 
these  years  only  that  your  lot  may  be  an  eternal  shed- 
ding of  blood?  To  wake  up  with  blood  every  day,  and 
every  day  to  lie  down  with  blood!  Every  day  to  smell 
blood  on  the  hand  of  him  who  embraces  you !  To  be 
bound  to  a  man  whose  calling  in  life  it  is  to  lay  violent 
hands  on  God's  creatures!  Have  you  really  the  cour- 
age to  choose  such  a  lot?" 

The  mechanical  dog  wagged  his  tail  and  put  out  his 
tongue. 

It  seemed  to  Michal  as  if  everything  was  turning 
round  and  round:  the  portraits  of  the  scholars,  the 
stuffed  birds,  even  the  skeleton  with  its  clattering  joints. 
How  could  she  defend  herself  against  so  many? 

The  scholar  saw  from  the  corpse-like  pallor  of  his 
daughter's  face  the  crushing  impression  his  words  had  pro- 
duced upon  her.  It  v^^as  in  a  much  gentler  voice  that  he 
now  continued: 

"Now  go  to  your  room,  or  rather  to  your  little  garden, 
and  think  over  what  I've  just  been  saying.  Write  first 
of  all  in  your  copy  book:  'Fathers  have  their  children's 
welfare  more  at  heart  than  the  children  themselves.' 
Yet  the  decision  shall  rest  with  you  alone.  Your  fate  is 
in  your  own  hands.  I'll  do  no  violence  to  your  feelings. 
If  indeed  there  be  really  more  strength  in  your  heart 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  33 

than  I  ever  anticipated,  show  it  now !  If  you  have  the 
courage  to  knit  your  life  to  those  who  work  in  blood, 
give  us  a  specimen  of  it  at  home  here.  You  have  two 
pretty  doves  in  a  cage.  I  bought  them  for  you  on  your 
birthday.  Slaughter  them  with  your  own  hand  and 
make  some  broth  of  them;  you  may  prepare* it  any  way 
you  like.  It  doesn't  matter  to  me  now.  I  shall  then 
know  your  decision.  Go  now,  and  think  the  matter 
over!" 

Pretty  Michal  went  down  into  the  garden  and  walked 
to  and  fro  among  the  rose  trees.  In  the  middle  of  the 
path  was  the  dovecote,  and  in  it  were  the  two  fan-tailed 
pigeons  which  she  had  to  slaughter,  she  who  had  never 
had  the  heart  to  kill  so  much  as  a  kitchen  fly.  If  she 
could  have  had  her  own  way  she  would  have  liked  every- 
one to  have  been  a  vegetarian.  And  now  she  was  to  kill 
her  favorite  doves. 

She  had  no  one  to  whom  she  could  turn  for  advice, 
no  one  to  whom  she  could  pour  out  her  griefs.  Here 
was  a  case  in  which  neither  the  philosophers,  nor  the 
calf-bound  polyhistors,  nor  yet  her  daily  playfellows, 
the  flowers,  could  be  of  the  slightest  assistance.  She 
had  no  other  friends  than  the  flowers,  and  they  could 
only  tell  her  what  they  knew  themselves,  e.  g.,  that  the 
virginal  lily  loves  the  garlic,  although  the  one  exhales 
perfumes  and  the  other  stinks;  and  the  noble  anthora 
withers  away  whenever  it  is  planted  beside  the  najollus 
for  although  the  latter  certainly  has  splendid  blossoms, 
(the  corolla  is  a  helmet  whereon  sit  two  doves),  it  never- 
theless brings  destruction  upon  its  fair  neighbor — and 
so  on  ad  nauseam. 

And  then  she  began  thinking  that  perhaps  the  feeling 
which  had  been  nourished  in  her  breast  by  this  exchange 
of  correspondence  was  not  exactly  love  after  all.     She  had 


24  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

only  seen  the  young  man  from  afar,  only  spoken  to  him  in 
her  dreams.  She  might  easily  renounce  him.  She  had  no 
mother  to  tell  her  difficulties  to,  and  from  her  father  she 
had  learnt  nothing  but  cold  prudence.  Mathematics  is 
a  pitiless  science.  According  to  mathematics,  love  is  not 
a  number  which  counts,  but  a  mere  cipher.  Among 
geometrical  figures  you  will  find  every  conceivable  shape, 
but  nothing  in  the  shape  of  a  heart.  She  could  get  no 
further  information  about  her  lover.  The  games  of  ball 
in  the  market-place  were  now  forbidden,  and  who  knew 
but  what  poor  Valentine  was  locked  up  besides?  It  was 
so  easy  to  find  a  pretext.  Perhaps  he  had  renounced  her 
himself  already.  Perhaps  he  had  gone  back  to  his 
native  place. 

Should  she  therefore  sacrifice  her  favorite  doves  for 
his  sake? 

At  noon  the  same  day  Michal  brought  both  the  doves 
to  her  father,  not  roasted  or  stewed  on  a  dish,  but  alive 
in  their  cage,  whereupon  the  professor  kissed  his  dutiful 
little  daughter  on  both  cheeks. 

Three  weeks  later  he  united  pretty  Michal  and  Henry 
Catsrider  in  holy  wedlock,  and  gave  them  both  his  paren- 
tal as  well  as  his  sacerdotal  blessing. 

Valentine  Kalondai  had  had  no  opportunity  of  doing 
anything  desperate  in  the  meantime.  After  the  assem- 
bled Consistory  had  publicly  upbraided  him  for  all  the 
sins  he  had  hitherto  committed — to  wit:  his  dancing  in 
the  woods;  his  keeping  a  big  dog;  his  propensity  to  all 
kinds  of  idle  jesting;  his  playing  truant  at  church;  liis 
consorting  with  fiddlers  and  trumpeters;  tussling  with 
night  watchmen  ;  making  the  beadle  drunk  and  dressing 
him  up  in  woman's  clothes;  smoking  in  the  streets,  etc. 
— he  was  sent  to  jail  for  a  week,   and  then  solemnly 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  25 

expelled  from  the  Keszmar  Lyceum  with  the  consilium 
abeundi,  and  thus  prevented  from  doing  anything  where- 
by he  might  perhaps  have  prevented  the  consummation 
of  his  rival's  wedding.  So  the  ceremony  was  performed 
without  let  or  stay,  and  pretty  Michal  became  the  wife 
of  the  man  who  tended  the  Lord's  flock  instead  of  the 
man  who  slaughtered  the  sheep. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Wherein  are  described  all  manner  of  robbers  and  dangers,  wherefrom 
the  righteous  are  wondrously  delivered. 

Henry  had  made  up  his  mind  to  take  his  young  wife 
to  Zeb  immediately  after  the  wedding,  before  settling 
down  at  the  parsonage  of  Leta.  It  was  ten  years  since 
he  had  seen  his  father,  who  was  naturally  full  of  wrath 
and  sorrow  at  the  disappearance  of  his  son.  But  a  fair 
daughter-in-law  would,  no  doubt,  be  the  best  mediator 
between  them.  At  any  rate,  there  was  no  harm  in  try- 
ing, for  the  old  man  was  very  rich  and  Henry  was  his 
only  son.  Many  a  wrinkled  brow  has  been  stroked 
smooth  again  ere  now  by  the  soft  hand  of  a  pretty 
woman. 

The  learned  Professor  Frohlich  himself  fully  approved 
of  this  plan,  for  although  the  books  of  the  philosophers 
are  full  of  golden  maxims  which  demonstrate  that  all 
earthly  treasures  are  but  dross,  nevertheless,  in  this 
practical  world  of  ours,  where  one  can  get  nothing  with- 
out money,  a  little  money  is  ever  so  much  better  than 
any  amount  of  golden  maxims. 

Besides,  the  old  gentleman  had  very  little  of  the  good 
things  of  this  world  to  bestow  upon  his  daughter.  Al- 
chemy could  no  more  make  gold  then  than  it  can  now. 

It  was  as  much  as  he  could  do  to  dower  the  bride  with 
new  gowns  and  underlinen,  and  here,  too,  he  looked 
rather  to  simplicity  than  to  splendor.  Instead  of  giving 
his  daughter  silk  and  satin  robes,  he  impressed  upon  her 

a6 


PRETTY  MICHAL,  27 

the  wise  sa%v:  'Mulier  superbe  amicta,  in  facie  picta,  in 
sermone  ficta — non  uni  vitio  est  addicta" — The  woman 
who  flaunts  in  frippery,  paints  her  face,  and  talks  minc- 
ingly,  is  the  slave  of  more  than  one  vice  already.  The 
husband  must  see  to  the  rest,  and  the  husband  in  this 
case  was  but  a  poor,  hungry  parson,  whose  benefice  for 
a  whole  year  to  come  would  be  but  an  empty  title.  Dur- 
ing all  that  time  he  must  be  content  with  a  curate's  pay. 
After  that,  however,  he  would  certainly  do  very  well, 
especially  if  his  father  helped  him  with  a  little  ready 
money  to  go  on  with. 

Meanwhile  a  journey  had  to  be  undertaken,  and  a 
journey  in  those  days  was  no  joke.  The  mountain  roads 
could  only  be  crossed  on  horses  or  mules,  and  the  beasts, 
drivers  and  all,  had  to  be  hired.  Then,  for  security's 
sake,  you  had  to  wait  till  a  regular  caravan  had  assem- 
bled, for  the  whole  region  was  blackmailed  in  those  days 
by  three  powerful  bands  of  robbers,  whose  leaders  were 
called  Janko,  Bajus,  and  Hafran.  Janko  was  famed  for 
his  physical  strength  and  agility,  Bajus  for  his  craft  and 
cunning,  but  Hafran,  or  Raven,  as  the  Slovacks  called 
him,  for  his  ferocity.  Each  of  them  commanded  from 
fifty-five  to  sixty  men.  Sometimes  they  all  united  and 
fought  regular  pitched  battles  with  the  soldiers  and 
police  sent  out  to  capture  them.  It  was,  therefore,  not 
advisable  for  single  families  or  small  parties  to  undertake 
long  journeys  like  that  from  Keszmdr  to  Zeb.  One  had 
to  make  arrangements  months  beforehand,  and  wait  till 
the  dealers  in  cloth,  haberdashery,  and  spices  were  ready 
to  set  out  with  their  wares  for  Eperies;  these  were  then 
usually  joined  by  a  dozen  or  so  of  butchers  and  cattle- 
dealers  from  Lower  Hungary,  as  many  cattle-drovers, 
half  a  dozen  strolling  fiddlers,  sundry  Slovack  linen  and 
oil  merchants,  and  some  thirty  students  traveling  home- 


28  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

ward  in  vacation  and  provided  with  stout  bludgeons; 
thereto  were,  of  course,  to  be  added  the  drivers  of  those 
who  had  to  make  the  journey  by  horse  or  mule,  or  pay 
for  the  transport  of  their  goods,  so  that  the  whole  cara- 
van generally  numbered  one  hundred  and  fifty  strong, 
and  the  robbers  would  think  twice  before  venturing  to 
attack  so  large  a  party.  On  this  occasion,  moreover, 
Fortune  added  to  their  company  a  Polish  nobleman  who 
had  been  on  a  visit  to  his  kinsmen  in  Hungary,  and  was 
returning  home  with  an  escort  of  forty  men-at-arms. 
Whoever  was  disposed  to  go  a  two  days'  journey  from 
Keszmar  might  safely  commend  his  soul  to  God  in  such 
a  goodly  company. 

Now  although  the  good  and  learned  Professor  David 
Frohlich  could  not  endow  his  daughter  with  much 
worldly  wealth,  yet  by  way  of  compensation  he  gavg  her 
richly  of  what  he  himself  possessed,  for  his  parting  pres- 
ent was  a  sack-load  of  wonder-working  medicinal  herbs. 
Among  them  was  the  "weapon  balsam,"  which  he  fully 
directed  her  how  to  use  in  case  her  husband  was 
wounded  by  the  way.  In  such  a  case  she  was  first  of  all 
to  stick  into  the  wound  a  piece  of  wood  of  the  same 
shape  as  the  weapon  which  had  inflicted  it,  and  then 
draw  it  out  and  anoint  it  with  the  balsam.  The  wound 
would  then  infallibly  heal — in  course  of  time.  In  case, 
however,  of  a  gunshot  wound,  when  the  bullet  remained 
in  the  body,  she  was  to  beat  flat  and  bind  upon  the 
wound  a  leaden  bullet  which  had  previously  shot  a  wild 
boar,  for  it  is  well  known  that  all  such  bullets  attract  and 
draw  out  all  other  bullets.  In  one  corner  of  the  sack  he 
stuck  that  valuable  counselor  in  all  the  ills  of  life,  the 
book  "Georgica  Curiosa,"  which  was  an  inventory  of  all 
the  healing  herbs  with  which  the  sack  was  filled.  Nay, 
his  love  for  his  daughter  made  the  worthy  man  part  with 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  29 

even  his  most  precious  talisman — the  plague  amulet. 
This  was  a  little  blue  silk  cushion  filled  with  the  leaves 
of  herbs  beneficial  against  the  plague,  and  inscribed  with 
the  following  charm  in  letters  of  gold:  "Longe,  tarde 
cede,  recede,  redi!"  which  is  really  a  very  good  charm, 
for  it  means  that  one  should  hasten  away  as  far  and  as  soon 
as  possible  from  the  place  where  the  plague  prevails,  and 
not  return  for  a  long  time  after  it  is  all  over.  This  amu- 
let the  learned  man  had  worn,  fastened'by  a  silken  cord 
round  his  neck,  night  and  day  for  years.  Now,  how- 
ever, he  said  good-by  to  it,  and  the  tears  came  into  his 
eyes  as  he  tied  it  round  his  daughter's  white  neck,  and 
whispered  tenderly: 

"Never  take  it  off,  my  dear,  never  take  it  off!  It  was 
your  mother's." 

Then  the  great  scholar,  after  carefully  observing  the 
aspects  of  the  seven  planets,  was  very  particular  to  cal- 
culate beforehand  a  day  which,  owing  to  a  propitious 
conjunction,  would  be  a  very  favorable  day  for  traveling, 
for  warfare,  for  the  donning  of  new  clothes,  for  court- 
ships, and  for  making  visits  and  purchases. 

He  took  leave  of  his  son-in-law  and  his  daughter  on 
the  previous  evening,  for  the  caravan  was  to  depart 
before  sunrise,  while  Orion  was  in  the  ascendant,  at 
which  time  the  learned  man  would  already  have  surren- 
dered his  limbs  to  repose.  Now,  all  the  world  knows 
that  whoever  is  involuntarily  aroused  from  his  slumbers 
at  such  a  time  will  wake  up  every  day  at  the  self-same 
hour  for  a  whole  year  afterward  and  not  be  able  to  go  to 
sleep  again :  such  a  contingency  therefore  was  to  be 
guarded  against  at  any  cost. 

Pretty  Michal  wept  long  and  sore  when  the  time  came 
to  say  good-by.  She  wept  for  her  good,  affectionate 
father,  for  her  flowers,  her  serving-maids,  her  little  room 


3°  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

which  looked  out  upon  the  garden,  her  kitchen,  bright 
with  burnished  copper  vessels;  but  the  ungrateful  little 
thing  did  not  weep  very  much  for  the  learned  books  she 
left  behind  her,  though,  indeed,  she  could  never  cease 
to  think  of  those  with  whom  she  had  had  her  daily  con- 
versation for  years.  Nay,  she  so  managed  as  to  leave 
behind  her  the  whole  sack-load  of  medicinal  herbs  col- 
lected with  such  wisdom,  "Georgica  Curiosa"  to  boot. 
Instead  of  that  she  took  with  her  one  of  her  fan-tailed 
pigeons,  which  she  dexterously  smuggled  into  her  long 
pocket. 

The  amulet  fastened  round  her  neck  she  held  in  high 
honor,  not  because  it  was  a  febrifuge,  but  because  it  was 
the  solitary  memento  of  her  mother  which  she  possessed. 

Her  husband,  also,  was  motherless.  He,  too,  had 
never  known  a  mother's  love. 

Perhaps,  too,  she  shed  a  few  tears  as  she  threw  behind 
the  fire  a  certain  carefully  folded  up  bundle  of  papers. 
They  were  the  billets-doux  which  had  reached  her 
through  the  aerial  post.  She  held  them  tightly  in  her 
hand  till  the  mules  jangling  their  bells  stood  before  the 
door.  Longer  than  that  she  could  not  hold  them.  She 
fancied  she  had  destroyed  them  when  she  had  burnt 
them,  but,  alas!  the  burning  of  those  letters  was  only  so 
much  labor  lost. 

But  joy  always  follows  after  sorrow. 

Michal  was  going  on  a  journey  for  the  first  time  in  her 
life.  For  the  first  time  in  her  life  she  was  to  see  field 
and  forest  beneath  the  open  sky.  Set  in  a  frame  of  the 
most  beautiful  landscape,  even  her  husband  looked 
better  than  he  had  ever  looked  before.  Never  had  she 
thought  him  so  agreeable,  and  he  cut  quite  a  stately  fig- 
ure on  horseback ;  indeed,  she  scarcely  recognized  him 
as  the  same  being  who  used  to  trip  so  humbly  after  the 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  3 1 

professor  with  his  books  under  his  arm,  for  he  could 
now  sing  cheerily  among  the  students  who  walked  along 
by  his  side,  and  his  merry  laugh  was  heard  from  one 
end  of  the  caravan  to  the  other. 

The  city  walls  of  Keszmar  and  the  well-known  moun- 
tains had  long  ago  been  left  far  behind,  and  Michal  kept 
thinking  to  herself  that  she  was  now  her  own  mistress, 
and  that  she  had  a  master  who  was  at  the  same  time  her 
slave.  The  house  that  she  would  henceforth  call  her 
home  would  have  a  very  different  appearance  from  the 
one  she  had  just  left.  There  would  be  no  one  to  super- 
vise or  keep  her  in  order;  she  would  have  no  other 
monitor  but  her  own  conjugal  virtue.  She  would  be  a 
model  of  a  wife,  upon  whom  all  eyes  should  be  fixed, 
and  of  whom  people  would  say:  "Try  and  be  like  that 
God-fearing  lady,  learn  from  her  sobriety,  decency, 
piety,  frugality,  and  domestic  economy;  learn  from  her 
how  to  speak  sensibly  in  four  languages,  and  still  more 
sensibly  to  keep  silence."  Thus  she  tried  to  discern, 
through  the  enigmatical  gloom  of  the  future,  the  joys 
and  delights  that  her  soul  longed  for,  so  as  the  better  to 
accommodate  herself  to  her  new  position. 

She  was  the  only  woman  in  the  whole  company. 

A  driver  had  been  assigned  to  her,  who  was  to  lead 
her  mule  by  the  bridle  whenever  the  path  went  through 
a  brook  or  over  a  stone,  and  stimulate  it  whenever  it 
had  to  clamber  up  the  steep  mountain-side.  He  was  an 
enigmatical  Slovack  lad,  with  bast  shoes  and  a  hat  with 
a  brim  drawn  deep  down  over  his  eyes.  "Gee!"  and 
"Whoa!"  were  the  only  sounds  he  ever  uttered,  and 
these  were  naturally  addressed  to  the  mule. 

The  character  of  the  region  had  suddenly  and  com- 
pletely changed.  Mountains,  pine  forests,  and  roaring 
waterfalls  succeeded  one   another   in    rapid  succession. 


32  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

The  numerous  company  sat  them  down  on  the  fresh 
grass  at  the  foot  of  a  shady  tree  by  the  side  of  a  purling 
brook,  and  everyone  produced  his  knapsack,  his  wallet, 
or  his  flask.  The  wealthier  of  them  shared  their  good 
fare  with  the  students,  who  expressed  their  thankfulness 
by  singing  merry  songs.  There  was  one  student  who 
particularly  distinguished  himself  by  his  facetiousness, 
and  whom  everyone  called  Simplex.  He,  too,  intro- 
duces himself  under  that  very  name  in  his  contemporary 
memoirs,  from  which  we  have  borrowed  many  of  the 
data  of  this  our  veracious  history.  He  was  an  itinerant 
student,  drummer,  and  trumpeter,  and  a  wag  and  good 
fellow  to  boot.  He  soon  succeeded  in  gaining  Henry's 
goodwill,  and  he  also  favored  the  young  bride  with  his 
company  from  time  to  time,  taking  the  whip  out  of  the 
hands  of  the  sleepy  driver  and  rating  him  soundly  in 
Polish,  which  the  other  endured  without  a  murmur. 

The  jests  of  Simplex  put  the  company  in  high  good- 
humor.  Even  Michal  caught  the  contagion  of  the  gen- 
eral merriment.  The  spicy,  fresh  air  seemed  to  relieve 
her  mind  of  sorrow. 

Suddenly,  on  reaching  the  summit  of  a  lofty  moun- 
tain, another  panorama  unfolded  itself  before  their  eyes. 
The  steep  mountain  wall  was  succeeded  by  a  deep  glen, 
and  the  tops  of  the  huge  pine  trees  massed  together 
below  seemed  to  the  naked  eye  to  be  a  meadow  of  a 
wonderful  green  perpetually  in  motion.  In  the  distance 
arose  lofty  rocks,  piled  one  above  the  other  and  split  up 
by  chasms  full  of  ice  and  snow.  The  path  wound  steeply 
down  into  this  glen,  where  it  was  already  night,  and  by 
the  side  of  the  path  ran  a  mountain  stream,  which,  pour- 
ing forth  from  the  crevices  of  the  granite  rocks,  plunged 
downward  in  a  hundred  glistening  columns  like  a  crystal 
organ. 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  33 

But  it  was  not  this  splendid  sight,  but  another,  very 
strange  and  very  terrible,  on  the  other  side  of  the  way, 
which  riveted  pretty  Michal's  attention. 

In  the  crevice  of  a  projecting  rock  a  lofty  stake  had 
been  firmly  planted;  on  the  top  of  the  stake  was  a 
wheel,  and  on  the  wheel  lay  something  distantly  resem- 
bling the  shape  of  a  man.  The  hands  and  feet  hung 
loosely  down ;  the  neck  and  skull  were  thown  backward 
and  reclined  half  over  the  tire  of  the  wheel.  Large 
black  birds  swept  slowly  round  and  round,  and  though 
startled  by  the  approaching  hub-bub  were  not  scared 
away. 

It  never  so  much  as  entered  into  pretty  Michal's  mind 
what  this  strange  object  could  be,  she  had  absolutely  no 
name  for  it. 

"What's  that?"  cried  she  with  a  shudder,  involunta- 
rily reining  up  her  mule. 

But  Henry  was  not  there  to  answer  her  question.  He 
had  ridden  on  in  advance  with  the  students,  who  had  now 
begun  to  sing  in  order  to  cheer  the  caravan  during  its 
perilous  descent  into  the  glen. 

"That  is  the  sign-post  of  the  glen,"  said  the  driver; 
"don't  look  in  that  direction,  my  lady!" 

Michal  turned  her  head  toward  the  speaker,  but  she 
immediately  felt  that  it  would  have  been  far  better  for 
her  to  have  riveted  her  sorrowing  gaze  on  that  nameless, 
hideous  object,  than  to  have  looked  into  the  eyes  of  him 
who  had  just  addressed  her,  for  the  sight  of  him  filled 
her  with  unutterable  anguish.  Now  for  the  first  time 
she  recognized  him.  The  silent,  ragged  driver  was  Val- 
entine Kalondai! 

"By  tlie  five  wounds  of  Christ,  it  is  Valentine!"  mur- 
mured Michal  in  a  voice  stifled  with  emotion. 

"Then  you  have  recognized  me  at  last?" 


34  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

"What  do  you  want  here?" 

"To  accompany  you." 

"Wherefore?" 

"To  serve  you  if  you  should  need  anything,  to  defend 
you  if  you  should  be  in  danger,  and,  finally,  to  find  out 
whither  they  are  taking  you." 

"Valentine,"  said  the  girl,  withdrawing  the  reins  of 
the  mule  from  the  youth's  hand,  "it  is  sin  to  act  thus. 
You  will  disgrace  us  both.  I  am  dead  to  you  now.  If 
you  have  ever  loved  me,  bury  me!  Bewail  me  as  one 
who  has  died  in  the  Lord.  Make  me  not  as  one  of 
those  who  will  hereafter  rise  up  and  accuse  you  before 
God!  I  am  now  a  married  woman.  I  have  plighted 
my  troth  to  another.  Not  even  for  your  sake  will  I  lose 
my  hope  of  salvation.  I  beseech  you  by  the  tender 
mercies  of  God  not  to  pursue  -me.  Remain  here  and 
forget  that  you  ever  saw  me!  Here,  in  this  frightful 
glen,  where  I  know  not  what  awaits  me,  though  I  feel 
that  it  is  full  of  horror,  I  cannot  pray  to  God  to  protect 
me  from  all  danger  while  you  are  by  my  side.  I  would 
not  have  the  heart  to  go  into  those  terrible  depths  if  I 
felt  myself  laden  with  sin  and  perjury.  If  you  love 
anything  which  belongs  to  me,  oh,  love  my  soul  ! 
If  you  would  preserve  me  from  harm,  be  jealous  of 
my  honor!  Remain  behind,  I  say,  and  follow  me  no 
further!" 

The  young  man  opened  his  lips  to  say  something  in 
reply,  but  not  a  word  came  forth,  only  a  long-drawn 
sigh;  a  hot  breath  in  the  cold  autumnal  air  was  it,  or, 
perhaps,  a  part  of  his  very  soul?  Then  he  pulled  his 
hat  deeper  down  over  his  eyes  and  remained  standing  in 
the  way,  while  Michal  on  her  mule  ambled  further  on. 

"Jacky,  my  boy!"  cried  a  jesting  voice  in  the  ear  of 
the  startled  driver,  and  at  the  same  time  someone  tapped 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  35 

him  on  the  shoulder.  It  was  Simplex,  the  merry  trum- 
peter. 

"How  far  you  have  dropped  behind  your  mistress!" 

"Yes,  and  I  will  drop  back  still  further,  friend  Simplex. 
She  has  recognized  me.  She  has  driven  me  away.  I 
have  now  but  one  favor  to  ask  of  you.  If  you  are  really 
my  friend,  prove  it  by  doing  me  a  great  service.  I 
cannot  accompany  her  further.  You  do  so  in  my  stead. 
If  any  evil  befall  Michal,  stand  by  her  and  save  her. 
You  have  your  wits  about  you  and  know  the  region 
thoroughly.  Be  near  her  as  long  as  possible.  Let  me 
know  how  it  befalls,  be  it  good  or  evil.  You  will  find  me 
at  Kassa,  in  my  mother's  house." 

Nowadays  we  should  hurl  back  such  a  commission  at 
the  suggester's  head.  Nowadays  everyone  looks  after 
himself,  and  no  one  is  such  a  fool  as  to  run  after  a  woman 
whom  a  second  person  loves  and  a  third  person  has  mar- 
ried. But  in  former  days  men  were  different.  Besides, 
they  had  not  so  much  to  do  then  as  they  have  now,  and  a 
social  law  was  then  in  force  which  has  long  since  become 
obsolete,  the  law  of  friendship.  It  was  not  codified,  yet 
its  authority  was  universally  deferred  to  and  folios  were 
written  about  it.  This  law  of  friendship  gave  a  man  the 
right  to  demand  great  things  from  his  neighbor,  and 
those  who  obeyed  this  law  were  bound  together  by 
stronger  ties  than  any  ties  of  kinship.  We  shall  pres- 
ently give  many  examples  to  show  how  much  in  those 
days  the  unwritten  law  of  friendship  was  needed,  a  law 
passed  by  no  parliament,  sanctioned  by  no  monarch, 
enforced  by  no  tribunal,  yet  everywhere  valid  and 
effectual. 

The  trumpeter,  contemptuously  dubbed  Simplex, 
promised  to  do  all  that  his  friend  required  of  him 
and  gave  him  his  hand  upon  it,  whereupon  he  hastened 


36  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

to  overtake  the  lady,  who  was  now  some  distance 
ahead. 

But  Valentine  Kalondai  remained  standing  on  the 
hillside  listening  till  the  clattering  of  the  horses'  hoofs 
had  quite  died  away.  Then  he  turned  and  walked 
slowly  off,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  crows  and  ravens,  who 
so  long  as  he  stood  there  did  not  venture  to  resume  their 
banquet  beneath  the  gallows.  Meanwhile  Michal  was 
trying  to  overtake  her  husband,  who  was  well  on  in  front 
surrounded  by  the  merry  students. 

The  road  became  rougher  and  rougher  as  it  wound 
down  into  the  valley.  The  broad,  well-wooded  moun- 
tain-sides confined  it  within  a  precipitously  shelving 
glen.  The  brook  zigzagged  across  it  and  tore  out  the 
rolling  stones,  so  that  the  very  mules  had  to  pick  their 
way  cautiously  along.  At  first  the  way  wound  among 
large  blocks  of  stone,  but  presently  it  ended  abruptly  at 
a  yawning  chasm  among  the  rocks.  Here  the  mountain 
stream  plunged,  roaring  and  foaming,  down  into  a  dizzy 
depth.  Beyond  the  bridge  the  path  reappeared,  but 
now  it  was  confined  more  than  ever  between  two  steep 
rocky  walls,  down  the  smooth  slaty  sides  of  which  the 
moisture  trickled  continually,  diffusing  a  misty,  cavern- 
ous sort  of  smell  over  the  whole  of  the  dark  rocky  defile, 
which  was  overshadowed  by  nodding  pine  trees.  The 
mules  no  longer  picked  their  way  among  rocks,  but 
among  bones.  All  around  lay  the  skeletons  of  men  and 
of  horses  inextricably  mixed  together. 

"Is  this  a  burial-ground?"  asked  Michal  of  her 
Henry,  not  without  a  shudder. 

But  Henry  had  no  answer  ready.  He  said  that  he 
had  never  been  that  way  before;  he  had  gone  to  Kesz- 
mar  by  another  road  over  the  mountain  ridge,  a  road 
which  you  could  only  pass  on  foot.     But  Simplex  was  at 


PRETTY  AIICHAL.  37 

hand,  and  he  explained  the  mystery  of  the  bones  strew- 
ing the  way,  as  he  had  heard  it  during  his  wanderings  in 
the  mountains  from  the  lips  of  his  guides. 

Many  years  ago,  the  troops  of  the  Prince  of  Transyl- 
vania, with  some  Turkish  auxiliaries,  had  blockaded  a 
regiment  of  Imperial  cavalry  in  this  defile,  and  after 
breaking  down  the  bridge  leading  to  the  glen  had  mas- 
sacred the  whole  lot  without  mercy.  There  was  no 
place  to  bury  the  dead,  and  so  they  had  lain  there  ever 
since.  The  students,  from  sheer  mischief,  now  picked 
up  two  or  three  of  the  skulls  and  trundled  them  along 
the  road.  No  doubt  they  were  not  the  first  who  had 
amused  themselves  by  playing  bowls  with  dead  men's 
bones. 

*^If  Hafran  were  to  catch  you  here,  he  and  his  merry 
men  would  play  at  bowls  with  your  heads  also,"  cried 
Simplex,  without  however  either  spoiling  their  good- 
humor  or  putting  Michal  in  a  better  humor. 

In  the  evening  twilight  they  came  to  the  kopanitscha, 
where  it  was  advisable  to  stay  the  night.  It  consisted  of 
a  group  of  houses  formed  of  the  trunks  of  trees,  sur- 
rounded by  a  palisade  of  sharp  stakes,  with  loopholes  at 
regular  intervals.  A  low  door,  made  of  heavy  beams, 
led  into  the  palisade,  where,  as  the  neighing  of  horses 
promptly  testified,   other  travelers  had  already  arrived. 

The  door  was  opened  to  their  knocking,  and  the  first 
arrivals,  among  whom  were  the  students  and  the  young 
married  couple,  were  admitted.  Far  behind  toiled  the 
merchants  and  drivers  with  their  cattle  and  heavily  laden 
wagons,  and  last  of  all  came  the  Polish  nobleman  and 
his  armed  retainers. 

There  were  enough  barns  and  out-houses  to  accom- 
modate them  all.  Hay  for  fodder  and  straw  for  bed- 
ding were  also  to  be  had  in  abundance.     The  host  was 


38  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

cooking  flesh  in  a  large  caldron  on  an  open  hearth.  One 
wing  of  the  house  was  already  occupied  by  a  company  of 
Polish  merchants,  bringing  cloth  and  spices  to  the 
Eperies  market,  and  accompanied  by  an  escort  of  twelve 
hired  soldiers,  in  helmets  and  coats  of  mail,  armed  with 
swords  and  blunderbusses. 

The  wife  of  the  kopanitschar,  or  host,  a  good-looking 
young  person,  immediately  took  charge  of  the  pastor's 
wife,  whom  she  led  into  her  own  private  room,  that  she 
might  not  have  to  listen  to  the  loose  talk  which  would 
certainly  flow  from  the  unwashen  mouths  of  so  many 
men. 

"For  no  one  will  close  an  eye  here  the  whole  night 
through,"  remarked  the  worthy  woman  confidentially. 
"Here  in  the  mountains  lurk  Janko,  Hafran,  and 
Bajus,  all  three  of  them!" 

Michal  asked  who  these  three  worthies  were. 

The  hostess  told  her  they  were  three  robber  chiefs, 
each  more  terrible  than  the  other.  Hafran  was  cruel, 
Bajus  a  crafty  rogue,  but  Janko  a  true  hero  who  knew 
not  fear. 

How  the  eyes  of  the  woman  sparkled  when  she  men- 
tioned Janko! 

Michal  asked  her  whether  she  was  not  afraid  to  live  in 
so  lonely  a  place  with  so  many  robbers  about. 

"Oh!  Janko  will  do  us  no  harm,"  said  the  young 
hostess,  smiling;  and  Michal  was  still  such  a  child  that 
she  gave  no  heed  to  the  woman's  sparkling  eyes  and 
smiling  lips. 

The  hostess  then  began  to  tell  her  how  powerful  the 
robbers  were.  People  were  forever  hanging,  beheading, 
and  breaking  them  on  the  wheel,  and  yet  they  never 
seemed  to  grow  less.  The  militia  of  three  counties  com- 
bined with  the  Imperial  troops  were  not  strong  enough 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  39 

to  root  them  out  of  the  mountains.  And  then  she  kept 
Michal  awake  till  long  after  midnight  by  telling  her  of 
the  adventures  and  exploits  of  the  robbers,  and  the 
terrible  fate  which  awaited  them  at  the  hands  of  the  viho- 
dar  of  Zeb. 

"Who  is  he?"  asked  Michal. 

What!  not  hear  of  the  vihodar!  He  was  the  headsman 
of  Zeb,  a  man  famed  far  and  wide.  They  call  him  the 
vihodar.  Every  child  knows  of  him ;  but  bandits, 
witches,  and  painted  damsels  know  him  best  of  all. 
Michal's  idea  of  these  last  three  species  of  mankind  was 
very  vague;  she  had  never  even  heard  tell  of  them 
before.  She,  too,  told  the  hostess  whence  she  came, 
whither  she  was  going,  and  how  she  had  only  been  mar- 
ried the  day  before,  and  this  was  the  first  night  that  she 
and  her  husband  had  ever  slept  under  the  same  roof. 

About  midnight  Henry  Catsrider  came  to  his  wife, 
and  told  her  that  the  region  was  not  safe.  The  moun- 
tain path  over  which  they  had  to  go  was  occupied  by  a 
band  of  robbers,  and  the  number  of  the  robbers  was 
great.  It  is  true  the  caravan  was  also  numerous,  but 
the  members  of  it  could  not  agree  among  themselves  as 
to  what  was  the  best  thing  to  be  done.  The  Polish 
nobleman,  who  had  many  musketeers  with  him,  said 
that  he  had  not  come  all  that  distance  to  be  shot  down 
like  a  dog.  He  would  send  to  Janko  and  offer  him  a 
ransom  if  he  would  let  him  pass  through  the  glen  unmo- 
lested. He  was  also  willing  to  pay  a  ransom  for  all  who 
cared  to  join  him.  But  the  merchants  and  the  drovers 
would  not  agree  to  this,  asserting  that  however  willing 
the  robbers  might  be  to  negotiate  when  they  had  to  do 
with  armed  noblemen  or  poor  ambulant  students,  they 
certainly  would  not  allow  wealtliy  merchants  and  fat 
drovers  to  escape  scot  free.     Not  to  defend  themselves, 


40  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

therefore,  would  be  to  lose  everything.  The  fact  is  they 
had  been  over-persuaded  by  the  Polish  merchants,  who 
had  brought  with  them  twelve  Imperial  soldiers,  and 
were  firmly  persuaded  that  they  could  keep  the  robbers 
at  bay.     All  they  wanted  was  rainy  weather. 

"Why  do  they  want  rainy  weather?"  asked  Michal. 

"I'll  tell  you,"  whispered  the  kopanitschar's  wife. 
"When  it  rains  the  robbers  cannot  fire,  because  their 
lunts  won't  burn  and  the  powder  gets  moist.  These 
twelve  soldiers,  however,  have  new-fangled  muskets, 
which  are  fired,  not  with  a  lunt,  but  by  a  flint ;  the  flint 
strikes  upon  a  piece  of  steel,  the  steel  gives  out  a  spark, 
and  the  spark  fires  the  powder.  They  say  that  these 
cunning  firearms  come  from  France.  The  soldiers 
would  like  to  try  them  against  the  robbers,  and  they 
only  want  rainy  weather  in  order  that  the  robbers  may 
not  be  able  to  fire  upon  them  in  return, 

"But,"  remarked  Henry,  "the  question  is  which 
party  we  ought  to  join,  the  Polish  nobleman's,  who 
trusts  in  the  clemency  of  the  robbers  and  will  pay  them 
a  ransom,  or  the  merchants',  who  rely  upon  their  fire- 
arms?" 

"Join  neither,"  said  the  hostess.  "An  idea  occurs  to 
me.  I  am  sorry  for  that  pretty  young  creature.  She 
was  only  married  yesterday.  I'll  be  bound  to  say  she 
has  not  kissed  her  husband  yet.  You  must  not  go  with 
the  merchants,  for  the  danger  will  be  very  great.  I 
know  Janko.  When  he  is  attacked  he  is  like  a  bear  with 
a  sore  head.  He  cares  not  a  fig  for  muskets,  and  does 
not  value  his  life  at  a  boot-lace.  It  would  not  be 
becoming  for  you  to  be  mixed  up  in  a  skirmrish.  It  is 
not  a  clergyman's  business  to  fight.  But  neither  must 
you  join  the  Polish  nobleman  and  trust  to  the  clemency 
of  the  robbers.     I  know   Janko.     The  sight  of  a  pretty 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  41 

woman  makes  him  Hke  the  very  devil.  He  would  rather 
leave  a  sack  of  gold  untouched  than  a  pretty  woman.  I 
should  not  like  you  to  fall  into  his  hands.  But  I  have  a 
third  plan  ready.  It  would  not  do  at  all  for  a  large 
company,  but  two  or  three  people  might  very  well  try  it. 
My  husband  will  lead  you  over  the  mountain  ridge,  but 
let  the  horse,  the  mule,  the  drivers,  and  the  baggage  go 
on  with  the  Polish  nobleman  ;  and  when  they  pass  over 
the  bridge  where  Janko  bars  the  way,  and  when  the 
blackmail  has  been  levied,  the  drivers  can  halt  at  the 
Praszkinocz  csarda  with  the  beasts  and  the  baggage. 
Meanwhile  my  husband  will  guide  you  so  securely  to  the 
csarda  that  not  a  hair  of  your  head  shall  be  rumpled." 

Michal  thought  the  advice  good.  It  was  the  best  way 
of  escaping  two  great  dangers. 

They  put  together  in  all  secrecy  what  they  needed 
most,  entrusting  the  remainder  of  the  baggage  to  one  of 
the  drivers  (the  other  had  evidently  run  away,  for  Henry 
could  find  him  nowhere) ;  the  host  brought  alpenstocks, 
bast  shoes  with  nails  in  the  soles,  which  they  put  on 
forthwith,  and  they  all  set  out  in  the  gloom  of  twilight. 

Suddenly  they  remarked  that  they  were  four.  Sim- 
plex, the  trumpeter,  was  trotting  on  behind  them.  He 
said  that  as  he  was  not  inclined  to  send  his  flesh  to 
market  he  preferred  scaling  the  mountains  with  them  to 
accompanying  the  merchants  or  the  magnate. 

Michal  had  no  objection.  It  was  only  one  familiar  face 
the  more,  and  he  had  quite  won  her  heart  by  his  gayety 
and  good-humor.  Besides  that,  he  could  help  her  to 
talk  to  the  guide,  who  was  a  native  Pole  and  therefore 
unintelligible  without  an  interpreter,  for  Simplex  could 
patter  Polish  very  well. 

The  wish  of  the  Polish  merchants  was  gratified:  it 
began    to    rain.     Scarcely  was  the  little  group   half  an 


42  PRETTY  MIC  HAL. 

hour's  journey  from  the  kopanitscha,  scarcely  had  it 
begun  to  ascend  the  footpath,  when  it  was  enveloped  in 
so  dense  a  mist  that  only  the  experience  of  its  guide 
saved  it  from  being  lost  in  the  wilderness. 

The  experienced  mountaineer  comforted  them  with 
the  assurance  that  the  mist  would  not  be  long  in  their 
way,  for  it  was  nothing  but  a  descending  cloud.  They 
would  soon  be  able  to  look  down  upon  it  with  a  clear 
sky  over  their  heads.  By  sunrise  they  would  be  among 
heights  never  visited  by  clouds. 

Simplex,  on  this  occasion,  approved  himself  a  highly 
useful  traveling  companion.  To  prevent  the  young  wife 
from  growing  weary  on  the  slippery  way,  he  hewed  down 
with  his  hanger  two  young  pine  trees  and  made  a  litter 
out  of  them,  on  which  weary  Michal  was  made  to  sit, 
while  he  and  the  guide  bore  her  between  them  over  the 
most  difificult  parts  of  the  way. 

The  kopanitschar  spoke  Polish  with  the  trumpeter  in 
order  that  the  lady  might  not  understand  what  they  were 
talking  about.  He  said  to  him  that  if  either  of  them 
were  to  slip,  litter-bearers,  lady,  and  all  would  infallibly 
plunge  headlong  into  the  abyss,  the  bottom  of  which 
could  not  be  seen  for  the  mists,  though  they  could  hear 
the  murmuring  of  the  mountain  stream  far  below  them. 
Or  if  they  lost  themselves  in  the  thick  mists  and  strayed 
into  a  chasm  or  a  snowdrift,  whence  not  even  a  chamois 
could  force  his  way  out  again ;  or  if  they  met  the  man- 
eating  bear  which  haunted  the  forests;  or  if  they  fell 
foul  of  the  robbers'  camp,  then  God  have  mercy  on 
their  souls! 

And  while  the  young  bride  was  thus  sitting  between 
them  on  her  litter,  she  took  the  fan-tailed  pigeon  from 
her  pocket,  and  fed  it  out  of  her  hand  and  gave  it  drink 
from  her  lips,  unconscious  of  the  thousand  deadly  perils 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  43 

which  surrounded  her,  and  whispered  caressingly:  "My 
dovey,  my  darling  little  dovey!" 

The  young  morning  was  now  beginning  to  dawn,  for 
the  mist  was  growing  lighter  and  snow  fell  instead  of 
rain ;  they  had  already  reached  the  Alpine  regions. 

"We  are  on  the  right  road,"  murmured  the  kopanits- 
char;  "there  goes  the  track  of  the  bear  through  the 
juniper  tree,  and  yonder  is  the  place  by  which  the  hares, 
the  wild  goats,  and  the  buffaloes  go  up  every  morning  to 
drink  out  of  the  mountain  tarn.  We  are  close  upon  the 
Devil's  Castle." 

But  surely  he  must  have  been  mistaken!  How  can 
that  be  the  right  way  which  leads  to  the  Devil's  Castle? 

"What  is  that  shimmering  in  the  bushes?"  inquired 
Simplex  anxiously. 

"The  eyes  of  a  lynx,"  growled  the  guide;  "he  is  on 
the  lookout  for  young  chamois." 

But  a  lynx  has  two  eyes,  and  there  was  only  a  single 
bright  point  shimmering  there.  It  was  the  lunt  of  a 
musket,  which  someone  was  hiding  beneath  his  mantle 
to  prevent  it  from  going  out. 

"Halt!"  cried  a  voice  from  the  bushes,  and  at  a  dis- 
tance of  only  ten  paces  a  wild  shape  sprang  up,  resting 
its  heavy  firearm  on  an  iron  fork  fastened  in  the  ground. 
The  robber  did  not  aim  at  the  two  rustically  clad  shapes 
who  were  carrying  the  litter,  but  at  the  gentleman  who 
was  following  a  considerable  distance  behind. 

"Jesus,  Maria!"  cried  Michal,  "he  is  shooting  at  my 
husband!" 

"Don't  shoot  at  him,  Hanack!"  cried  Stevey  to  the 
robber,  "don't  you  see  that  he's  a  clergyman?" 

The  challenge  was  of  use,  the  freebooter  lowered  his 
lunt.  Possibly,  too,  he  was  somewhat  taken  back  at 
finding  himself  face  to  face  with  three  men,  one  of  whom 


44  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

was  armed  with  an  ax  and  another  with  a  hanger; 
besides,  he  was  not  quite  certain  whether  his  powder  was 
wet  or  dry.  He  therefore  used  clemency  and  answered 
amicably: 

"Oh!   'tis  you,  Stevey,  eh?     Whom  are  you  leading?" 

"A  clergyman  and  his  wife." 

"Then  it  is  a  Lutheran!  A  lucky  thing  for  him! 
Had  he  been  a  Papist,  I  should  have  chucked  him  down 
that  hole.  But  when  you  get  to  where  Hamis  is  keep- 
ing watch,  tell  him  that  you  are  guiding  a  Romish  priest 
and  his  sister,  for  he  is  ready  to  flay  a  Lutheran  alive." 

"Don't  be  afraid,"  said  the  kopanitschar  kindly  to 
the  lady,  "a  single  robber  will  not  think  of  attacking 
three  men.  This  is  the  outermost  picket,  the  camp  is 
down  in  that  deep  hollow  yonder." 

They  hastened  onward,  and  now  Michal  begged  her 
husband  not  to  lag  so  far  behind  her. 

The  guide  had  calculated  rightly  that  by  ascending 
the  steep  upward  path  through  the  bear's  track  they 
would  reach  the  mountain's  summit  before  sunrise,  by 
which  time  the  clouds  would  lie  below  them.  The  mists 
over  their  heads  now  began  to  clear  away.  As  the  rays 
of  the  sun  dissipated  the  snow  clouds,  it  was  as  if  millions 
of  crystal  needles  were  shimmering  in  the  air,  till  a  gust 
of  wind  suddenly  swept  them  all  away  and  revealed  the 
clear  blue  sky.  Then  the  sun  came  forth  amidst  the 
Alpine  summits.  At  first,  however,  they  did  not  see  the 
sunrise  to  advantage,  for  their  way  led  through  a  dense 
grove  of  young  pine  trees  growing  up  among  the  charred 
stumps  of  a  burnt  forest.  The  litter  was  here  of  no  use. 
They  had  to  creep  through  the  young  undergrowth  on 

all  fours. 

The  guide  now  told  the  travelers  to  remain  where  they 
were-  he  would  go  ahead  and  look  about  to  see  if  it  was 


PRETTY  MIC  HAL.  45 

all  right.  With  that  he  crept  cautiously  forward  among 
the  thick  bushes,  taking  great  care  not  to  disturb  the 
rustling  leaves  in  the  silent  woods.  In  a  little  time  he 
came  back  very  crestfallen.  It  was  not  safe.  The  rob- 
bers were  encamped  close  by  the  Devil's  Castle. 

Then  Simplex  also  crept  close  to  the  extreme  edge  of 
the  wood,  and  there  saw  with  his  own  eyes,  at  the  foot 
of  the  old  tower  rising  above  the  steep  precipices,  forty 
men  armed  with  muskets  and  axes  lying  on  the  grass 
round  a  fire,  on  which  a  substantial  breakfast  was  broil- 
ing. 

There  are  some  insanely  audacious  ideas  which  only 
the  extremity  of  despair  can  suggest,  and  Simplex  was 
just  the  sort  of  man  to  whom  such  mad  ideas  would 
naturally  occur.  So  now,  too,  he  hit  upon  an  expedient 
which  none  but  a  devil-may-care  ex-student  with  a  taste 
for  adventure  would  ever  have  thought  of. 

"Listen,  Stevey!"  said  he  suddenly  to  the  guide, 
"I'll  scare  away  all  the  robbers!" 

"Stop!"  cried  the  terrified  guide  ,   "are  you  mad?" 

But  the  deed  was  already  done.  Simplex  took  the 
trumpet  from  his  shoulder  and  blew  a  mighty  alarum 
that  re-echoed  far  and  wide  through  forest  and  dale, 
and  then  he  cried  aloud:  "Run!  the  soldiers  are  com- 
ing!" 

The  robbers  no  sooner  heard  it  than  they  sprang  to 
their  feet  in  terror.  Many  of  them  even  took  the  pre- 
caution to  discharge  their  firearms  in  the  direction  of  the 
forest,  so  as  to  give  the  alarm  to  their  remaining  com- 
panions who  were  encamped  all  about.  A  general  stam- 
pede ensued.  Simplex  kept  on  blowing  his  trumpet  with 
all  the  strength  of  his  lungs;  the  guide  threw  himself 
with  his  face  to  the  ground,  praying  three  different 
prayers  simultaneously,  and  tossing  his  arms  and  legs 


4<5  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

about  like  an  epileptic;  while  Henry  Catsrider,  in  his 
agony,  hastily  climbed  up  a  tree. 

Now  when  pretty  Michal  saw  the  panic-stricken  rob- 
bers scattering  in  all  directions,  the  guide  in  convul- 
sions, Simplex  trumpeting  with  all  his  might  and  main, 
and  her  clerical  husband  hastily  clambering  up  the  near- 
est tree,  she  could  not  refrain  from  bursting  into  a  hearty 
peal  of  laughter.  If  die  she  must,  she  might  just  as  well 
have  one  more  good  laugh  before  she  did  die.  It  could 
make  not  the  slightest  difference. 

But  no  sooner  had  the  threatened  peril  been  so  mar- 
velously  averted  than  the  laughter  of  the  pretty  lady 
infected  the  trumpeter  to  such  a  degree  that  he  let  his 
instrument  fall  to  the  ground;  then  the  kopanitschar 
also  rose  from  the  ground  and  burst  into  a  hoarse  guffaw, 
and  at  last  Henry  Catsrider  himself  descended  from  his 
perch  and  also  burst  out  laughing. 

The  young  lady  thought  how  funny  it  is  when  man  and 
wife  laugh  in  unison.  It  is  perhaps  a  wife's  greatest 
bliss  to  be  able  to  laugh  when  her  husband  laughs,  and 
weep  when  he  weeps. 

But  the  kopanitschar  gave  the  trumpeter  a  violent 
blow  on  the  back  and  said,  half  in  jest  and  half  in  anger: 
"I'll  never  be  your  guide  again  as  long  as  I  live!  May 
the  vihodar  of  Zeb  get  hold  of  you!" 

Michal  thought  to  herself  how  strange  it  is  when  a 
husband  suddenly  breaks  off  in  the  middle  of  a  peal  of 
laughter  as  if  he  had  had  a  cold  douche.  Must  not  a 
wife  in  such  a  case  also  cease  laughing? 

"But  now  we  must  pack  off  as  quietly  as  possible 
while  the  road  is  clear,"  continued  the  kopanitschar. 
"We  must  not  stop  a  minute  till  we  get  to  Praszkinocz!" 

So  they  all  took  to  their  heels  and  tried  to  reach  the 
Devil's  Castle  as  quickly  as  they  could,  where  the  fires 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  47 

were  still  burning,  and  hacked  and  bloody  pieces  of 
bone,  and  half-roasted  hunks  of  flesh  on  huge  wooden 
spits,  were  scattered  all  about.  The  spring  bubbling 
forth  from  the  plateau  formed,  deep  down  in  the  valley 
below,  a  small  lake  covered  with  water  lilies  and  the 
broad  red  flowers  of  the  water  clover.  Hither  came  the 
wild  beasts  of  the  forest  to  slake  their  thirst. 

From  the  foot  of  the  ruin  the  valley  sinks  abruptly 
down  toward  the  northwest,  where  it  has  quite  a  win- 
terly aspect.  The  whole  declivity  is  covered  by  a  layer 
of  snow,  which  the  rays  of  the  sun  are  never  able  to 
entirely  melt.  The  sun  only  shows  his  face  there  for  an 
hour  at  noon  every  day,  and  what  is  then  melted  quickly 
hardens  into  a  coating  of  ice  of  a  mirror-like  smoothness. 
While  on  the  southeastern  side  of  the  mountain  snow  and 
rain  are  always  falling  and  clouds  obscure  the  landscape, 
a  bright  sky  smiles  on  the  other  side  and  you  can  see  as 
far  as  Poland.  In  the  valley  beneath,  at  least  two  miles 
distant  from  the  ruins  of  the  Devil's  Castle,  lies  the 
little  village  of  Praszkinocz.  A  serpentine  path  winds 
down  the  slippery  sides  of  the  mountains  into  the  village 
below,  but  few  people  ever  use  it,  save  an  occasional 
charcoal-burner  or  wood-cutter. 

"Alas,  Stevey!"  cried  Simplex,  shuddering  at  the 
sight  of  this  perilous  descent,  "we  shall  never  get  off 
with  a  whole  skin  that  way.  'Tis  like  the  glass  mountain 
of  Prince  Argyrus,  and  he,  at  all  events,  had  an  en- 
chanted horse  to  fall  back  upon.  If  we  creep  down  on 
all  fours  we  shan't  get  there  in  two  days,  and  what's  to 
become  of  this  delicate  creature?" 

"Have  no  fear,  trumpeter,"  said  the  guide  calmly, 
and  he  set  to  work  felling  a  pine  with  his  ax. 

Meanwhile  Simplex  explored  every  hole  and  corner  of 
the  ruins  to  see  if  he  could  discover  any  hidden  treasure 


48  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

which  the  robbers  might  have  left  behind,  while  Michal 
searched  in  the  grass,  which  had  been  protected  from 
the  snow  by  the  overhanging  pine  branches,  for  gentian 
and  wood  angelica,  and  great  was  her  joy  when  she  dis- 
covered some  specimens  of  those  wonder-working  herbs. 

But  Henry  stood  aloof,  holding  his  forehead  with  his 
hands  as  if  his  head  ached. 

As  the  pine  branch  fell  to  the  last  stroke  of  the  ax,  the 
roll  of  musketry  suddenly  began  to  resound  from  behind 
the  mountains.  The  sharp  volleys  at  once  put  an  end  to 
the  composure  of  the  party. 

"Listen!"  cried  the  guide;  "the  robbers  have  come 
to  blows  with  the  soldiers  over  there,"  and  with  that  he 
dragged  the  fallen  pine  trunk  to  the  edge  of  the  declivity 
and  poised  it  over  the  serpentine  path,  with  the  hewn- 
off  end  pointing  downward. 

"And  now  to  horse,  to  horse!  You,  trumpeter,  get  up 
behind.  His  reverence  must  sit  in  the  middle  with  his 
lady  behind  him,  who  must  clip  him  tightly  round  the 
waist.  Each  one  of  us  must  hold  fast  to  the  branches 
on  both  sides,  and  draw  up  his  legs  so  as  not  to  get 
entangled  in  the  wayside  shrubs  and  briars.  I'll  sit  in 
front  and  be  coachman  and  pilot." 

After  thus  assigning  to  everyone  his  place,  the  guide 
sat  astraddle  on  the  thick  end  of  the  trunk,  and  the  three 
men  jogged  the  dangerous  vehicle  along  like  a  six-footed 
dragon  till  it  toppled  over  the  edge  of  the  slope. 

"Forward,  dragon!   in  Heaven's  name,  forward!" 

The  pine  trunk,  once  set  in  motion,  glided  down  the 
smooth,  mirror-like  incline  like  a  dart.  The  guide, 
spreading  out  his  long  legs,  steered  it  right  and  left,  and 
when  it  flew  down  a  little  too  quickly,  he  sharply  planted 
both  his  heels  against  the  ground  to  slacken  speed,  and 
cried: 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  49 

"Wo-ah,  dragon,  wo-ah!" 

No  gondolier,  no  coachman,  could  have  steered  or 
driven  more  skillfully.  A  single  false  shove,  a  single 
obstacle  in  the  path,  and  all  four  of  them  would  have 
been  hurled  into  the  abyss  below  and  dashed  to  pieces. 

But  no  footless  serpent  could  have  writhed  more  deftly 
down  than  the  pine  trunk.  It  was  a  sight  worth  seeing, 
this  lightning-like  flight  down  a  mountain  of  glass. 

"Holloah!   hie!   fly  away,  thou  devil's  steed!" 

Silly  Simplex,  in  a  transport  of  delight,  took  the  trum- 
pet from  his  shoulder,  and  catching  the  mane  of  the  pine 
tree  firmly  by  one  hand,  blew  a  postilion-march  with  all 
his  might. 

"Holloah,  ho!  holloah,  ho!  This  is  the  way  the  devil 
brings  home  his  bride." 

Michal,  too,  loosed  her  arm  from  her  husband's  neck 
and  began  to  clap  her  hands  for  joy.  What  a  rapture 
to  fly  down  so  swiftly!  She  feared  nothing,  she  de- 
lighted in  the  very  danger.  Her  heart  was  innocent. 
No  sin  oppressed  her  conscience.  Well  for  her  that  she 
had  had  sense  enough  to  shut  her  ears  against  the 
tempter.  If  only  the  shadow  of  a  sin  had  now  darkened 
her  soul  she  would  not  have  been  so  blithe  in  the  midst 
of  danger,  but  would  have  looked  down  with  a  shudder 
at  the  awful  abyss  which  seemed  both  Death  and  Hell. 

"Put  your  arms  round  me  again  or  I  shall  fall  off!" 
cried  the  man  in  front  of  her.  His  face  was  as  pale  as 
wax.  A  vertigo  had  seized  him.  And  Michal  had  to  hug 
him  tightly  lest  he  should  lose  his  equilibrium,  and  she 
clasped  him  to  her  breast  till  they  got  to  the  bottom  of 
the  glen.  The  flight  along  the  icy  slope  had  lasted  half 
an  hour,  on  foot  it  would  have  taken  them  half  a  day  at 
least  to  traverse  it. 

So  they  all  thanked  God  that  they  had  come  off'  with 


so  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

a  whole  skin.  And  it  was  not  long  before  they  had  to 
thank  God  for  much  more  than  that.  At  midday  they 
were  rejoined  by  their  fellow  travelers  who  had  come 
through  the  valley,  and  fearful  tales  they  had  to  tell  of 
the  dangers  which  they  had  encountered. 

Janko,  to  whom  a  mounted  messenger  had  been  sent 
on  beforehand  to  negotiate  with  the  robbers,  had  granted 
the  travelers  a  free  passage  through  the  defile,  and  the 
Polish  nobleman  paid  for  all  those  who  accompanied 
him,  students  included,  the  ransom  demanded.  But  in 
the  meantime  Hafran's  robbers  (it  was  these  whom  Sim- 
plex had  scared  away  with  his  trumpet  from  the  Devil's 
Castle)  fell  upon  the  Keszmar  merchants  who  were  march- 
ing far  behind  in  the  rear,  cut  down  the  drivers,  tortured 
the  merchants,  and  carried  off  the  mules  and  pack-horses. 
But  while  they  were  thus  making  free  with  the  booty, 
the  twelve  soldiers,  armed  with  their  new-fangled  muskets 
which  could  be  fired  off  even  in  rainy  weather,  fell  upon 
the  robbers,  who  could  not  shoot  because  of  the  wet. 
About  forty  of  the  freebooters  bit  the  dust.  Hafran, 
with  the  remainder,  escaped  by  the  skin  of  his  teeth 
among  the  rocks,  contriving  to  carry  the  whole  of  the 
spoil  along  with  him,  including  the  baggage  of  the  young 
married  people,  who  now  had  nothing  left  but  what  they 
were  actually  wearing.  All  the  beautiful  embroidery, 
lace,  and  fine  linen  which  pretty  Michal  had  worked  and 
woven  with  her  own  hand^,  an  inestimable  treasure,  had 
become  the  booty  of  these  vagabonds. 

'  'May  the  vihodar  of  Zeb  break  every  one  of  them  on 
the  wheel!"  cried  the  kopanitschar. 

At  these  words«  Henry's  face  became  fiery  red. 

But  Michal  threw  her  arms  round  his  neck  and  con- 
soled him. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  $1 

"Let  US  thank  God,"  said  she,  "'for  so  marvelously 
delivering  us  from  so  great  a  peril." 

She  knew  now  what  a  great  danger  she  had  escaped, 
but  she  had  no  idea  of  the  still  greater  danger  that  she 
was  about  to  encounter. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Which  will  be  a  short  chapter  but  not  a  very  merry  one. 

The  young  married  people  had  now  neither  horse 
nor  mule  to  carry"  them  any  further.  They  had  to  look 
about  for  some  sort  of  vehicle  to  take  them  to  Zeb,  and 
the  wagoner  whom  they  hunted  up  at  last  swore  by  hook 
and  by  crook  that  he  would  go  by  sledge  or  not  at  all, 
for  snow  had  fallen  in  Praszkinocz,  and  there  was  now  a 
sledging  track  all  the  way.  As  they  could  not  be 
choosers  they  of  course  consented.  Simplex  begged 
them  to  take  his  bundle  with  them,  for  he  too  wanted  to 
get  to  Eperies.  He  had  come  off  the  luckiest  of  them  all, 
for  as  he  had  carried  his  few  worldly  possessions  slung  over 
his  shoulder,  he  had  not  been  plundered  by  the  robbers. 
The  wagoner  granted  him  his  request,  and  even  allowed 
him  to  run  along  behind  the  sledge  and  hang  on  by  the 
trestle  when  he  was  tired. 

He  ran  as  long  as  the  sledge-track  lasted,  but,  as  might 
have  been  anticipated  (though  the  driver  absolutely 
refused  to  believe  in  the  possibility  of  any  such  thing), 
when  they  arrived  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  they  saw 
that  there  was  no  more  snow  but  only  mud.  Simplex 
had  now  to  shove  the  sledge  much  oftener  than  mount 
behind  it,  especially  when  the  road  lay  uphill.  The 
clergyman  also  had  to  lend  a  hand  occasionally,  while 
the  countryman  in  front  dragged  the  horses  along  by 
main  force.  Thus,  in  addition  to  their  other  troubles, 
they  were  saddled  with  a  sledge  on  muddy  roads. 

52 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  S3 

They  had  fallen  far  behind  the  caravan ;  even  the 
carriers  with  the  baggage  were  now  a  long  way  ahead  of 
them.  It  was  late  in  the  evening  before  they  saw  in  the 
distance  the  lofty  church  of  Zeb  with  its  copper  roof, 
and  the  bastions  of  the  city  embowered  in  gardens. 
The  wind  wafted  to  their  ears  the  sound  of  the  evening 
Ave  Maria,  and  a  very  comfortable  sound  it  is  to  him 
who  sits  snugly  by  his  own  fireside.  But  it  is  far  from 
pleasant  to  those  who  are  outside  the  walls,  for  after  the 
Angelus  all  the  gates  are  closed,  the  bridges  drawn  up, 
and  not  a  living  soul  that  wanders  in  a  bodily  shape  upon 
the  earth  is  admitted  within  the  city. 

"We  are  shut  out,"  growled  the  wagoner,  scratching 
his  head.  "Now  we  shall  have  to  sleep  under* some 
haystack.  I  only  wish  we  had  not  taken  that  vagabond 
student's  bundle  into  the  sledge,  that  was  what  made 
us  creep  along  so  slowly." 

But  if  Simplex  had  not  helped  to  shove  on  the  sledge 
they  would  not  have  got  so  far  as  this. 

"Pray  let  us  go  on  a  little  further,"  said  the  clergy- 
man. He  was  walking  along  moodily  by  the  side  of  the 
sledge.      No  one  was  inside  it  but  Michal. 

The  sun  had  set.  Its  scarlet  glare  still  lit  up  the  sum- 
mits of  the  distant  Carpathians,  but  the  only  objects 
which  they  illuminated  here  below  were  one  or  two  man- 
sions scattered  among  the  hills,  the  gates  of  the  city,  and 
a  large,  lonely  building  standing  outside  the  walls.  The 
walls  and  roof  of  this  building  shone  blood-red  in  the 
evening  twilight,  but  from  the  huge  chimney  issued 
volumes  of  pitch-black  smoke.  Glowing  red  clouds, 
betokening  wind,  accompanied  the  setting  sun,  and  a 
flock  of  crows  which  had  been  startled  from  their  resting- 
place  flew,  loudly  croaking,  out  of  the  woods  toward  the 
town  as  forerunners  of  the  approaching  storm. 


54  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

The  flock  of  crows  alighted  on  a  dismal-looking  scaf- 
folding, which  stood  on  a  hill  on  this  side  of  the  red 
house.  It  consisted  of  roofless  columns  rising  gauntly 
out  of  a  square  mass  of  masonry  and  united  by  four  iron 
bars.  From  each  of  these  four  columns  a  huge  iron 
hook  boldly  projected.  The  crows  settled  down  in  thick 
clusters  on  the  iron  bars.  Nowhere  in  the  whole  region 
was  a  tree,  a  shrub,  or  any  asylum  for  man  or  beast  to 
be  seen. 

"Whatever  can  that  be?"  thought  Michal. 

Simplex  and  the  wagoner  dragged  the  horses  forward, 
Henry  walked  beside  the  sledge,  and  held  it  fast  with 
one  hand  to  prevent  it  from  toppling  over. 

"Whither  are  we  to  go  now?"  growled  the  wagoner. 
"We  must  pass  the  night  outside  here,  I  suppose.  There 
is  no  shelter  anywhere,  and  during  the  night  the  witches 
will  do  us  a  mischief." 

"There  are  no  such  things  as  witches,"  remarked 
Henry  dryly. 

"But  I  say  there  are.  I'm  sure  of  it.  Barbara  Pirka 
is  certainly  a  witch.  They  assemble  here  at  mid- 
night." 

"Silence!"  cried  Henry  sternly,  and  with  that  he 
seized  the  reins  of  the  horses  and  began  to  lead  them 
away  from  the  road. 

"Sir,"  said  the  carter,  hesitating,  "why  are  you  going 
in  that  direction?  Here  is  no  other  house  but  that  one 
yonder,"  and  he  pointed  to  the  lonely  house  which  stood 
below  the  town,  all  lurid  in  the  evening  twilight. 

"And  thither  we  must  go." 

"Jesus  Christ  preserve  us!"  stammered  the  wagoner, 
"that  is  the  house  of  the  vihodar. " 

"And  thither  I  say  we  must  go." 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  55 

Then  he  went  to  his  wife,  and  wrapped  her  in  his 
mantle  to  protect  her  from  the  cold  night  air. 

"Is  your  father's  house  much  further?"  she  asked 
tenderly. 

"There  it  is,  straight  before  us,"  answered  Henry; 
"my  father  is  the  vihodar  of  Zeb!" 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Contains  the  proper  explanation  of  things  which  have  hitherto 
remained  obscure. 

So  his  father  is  the  vihodar  of  Zeb,  the  headsman,  the 
man  who  works  in  blood,  not  the  blood  of  sheep  and 
oxen,  but  the  blood  of  men  I 

This  is  his  house,  his  territory. 

His  house  is  shut  out  from  the  town,  the  boundary  of 
his  dominion  is  the  gallows. 

Those  stakes  by  the  wayside  with  wheels  fastened  to 
them  are  his  mile-posts.  The  robber  bands  are  his  ripe 
wheat,  which  he  mows  down  with  his  sword  and  harrows 
with  his  wheel. 

He  is  the  judge  of  final  appeal  before  whom  all  crim- 
inals must  appear — truly  a  great  and  distinguished  per- 
sonage. People  make  haste  to  get  out  of  his  way  when- 
ever he  walks  the  streets,  and  salute  him  by  drawing 
their  caps  over  their  eyes  whenever  he  passes  by.  His 
sway  extends  from  the  sixteen  towns  of  Zips  as  far  as 
Kassa,  and  letters  patent  from  the  Emperor  and  the 
King  of  Poland  give  him  the  right  to  kill  and  torture. 

Michal  spoke  not  a  word,  but  closed  her  eyes  and  lay 
back  in  the  sledge. 

The  sledge,  on  quitting  the  boggy  ground  and  reach- 
ing the  level  turf,  again  had  a  smooth  course  before  it 
where  some  progress  could  be  made.  Here  Henry  again 
mounted.  Simplex  and  the  driver  also  took  their  places 
Oil  the  box-seat.     The  horses  shied  at  the  gallows,  and 

s6 


PRETTY  MJCHAL.  57 

galloped  off  with  the  sledge  as  if  they  had  broken  loose 
altogether.  The  driver  cried  piteously,  as  if  he  were 
being  led  to  execution. 

"Don't  disturb  yourself,  countryman,"  cried  Simplex 
consolingly,  "at  home  the  headsman  is  a  great  person- 
age. He  regales  his  guests  with  good  pottage,  new 
milk,  and  old  tokay.  Dine  with  him  but  once,  and 
you'll  have  something  to  talk  of  for  the  rest  of  your  life. 
I  know  him.  He  is  a  good  and  honest  man.  I  played 
to  his  singing  once,  and  he  filled  my  cap  with  thalers. " 

"It  is  indeed  a  dreadful  house,"  whispered  Henry  in 
Michal's  ear,  "and  the  master  of  that  house  is  an  object 
of  terror.  It  is  an  awful  thing  to  sleep  in  that  house,  and 
a  still  more  awful  ihing  it  is  to  speak  face  to  face  with  its 
grim  master,  although  I  say  it  who  am  his  son.  Listen, 
and  do  not  abhor  me.  Horror  drove  me  thence  in  my 
early  boyhood;  I  fled;  my  father's  business  filled  me 
with  loathing.  I  wanted  to  live  in  the  world,  beloved 
and  respected  by  my  fellow-men.  I  departed  into  a 
strange  land;  I  was  determined  they  should  never  hear 
of  me  again  at  home.  Begging  my  way  along,  I  hardly 
earned  my  daily  bread ;  I  suffered  cold  and  hunger;  I 
went  about  in  the  rags  which  the  hand  of  charity  be- 
stowed upon  me;  I  became  a  scholar  and  a  slave;  I 
learned  to  practice  obedience  and  humility;  in  all  the 
world  I  found  but  a  single  benefactor,  who  took  me  in, 
instructed,  educated,  and  ennobled  me;  and  by  subtlety 
I've  robbed  this  single  benefactor  of  his  most  precious 
treasure,  his  only  daughter.  I  told  him  not  who  my 
father  was ;  had  I  told  him,  he  would  not  have  given  me 
his  daughter.  No  one  knows  the  family  name  of  my 
father;  his  grandfather  dwelt  in  this  very  house,  he  took 
over  this  ghastly  office  from  his  predecessor,  and  this 
predecessor  was  called  the  vihodar.     It  was  a  name  the 


58  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

people  gave  him,  and  so,  from  generation  to  generation, 
the  dweller  in  this  house  ha-s  been  called ;  but  my  father 
has  not  forgotten  his  family  name,  and  he  knows  that 
there  is  one  other  man  in  the  world  besides  himself  who 
bears  that  name.  Old  Catsrider  is  a  very  rich  man.. 
He  has  pocketed  many  gold  pieces  and  has  hoarded  them 
up.  Why,  indeed,  should  a  hangman  spend  his  money, 
or  on  what?  In  amusements?  He  has  no  time  for  such 
things.  In  pomp  or  display?  He  cannot  acquire  prop- 
erty. But  I  have  not  come  hither  because  I  covet  his 
treasures;  not  on  that  account  have  I  brought  you  to  the 
door  of  this  sad  house,  no,  but  because  I  deceived  your 
father  in  giving  out  that  my  own  father  was  a  Catholic. 
That  is  not  true;  he  is  a  Protestant.  Our  canons  are 
very  stringent.  A  marriage  solemnized  without  the  con- 
sent of  tlie  parents  on  both  sides  is  invalid.  I  dare  not 
run  the  risk  of  one  day  seeing  the  hangman  enter  the 
church,  tug  me  by  my  surplice  and  say:  'I,  Christian 
Catsrider,  tear  you,  my  son,  down  from  this  holy  place, 
because  you  are  living  in  illicit  union  with  a  woman  who 
is  not  your  wife.' 

"I  must  obtain  the  consent  of  my  father  to  our  mar- 
riage, or  else  you  and  I  are  dishonored  and  our  marriage 
is  void.      Do  you  understand  now?" 

At  this  question  the  young  woman  sprang  to  her  feet 
and  for  an  instant  she  was  seized  with  the  desire  of 
springing  out  of  this  infernal  vehicle  as  it  flew  along  the 
dry  grass,  and  flying,  flying,  flying,  till  some  bottomless 
abyss  swallowed  her  up ;  but  the  next  moment  she  sub- 
mitted to  her  fate,  bowed  her  head,  hid  her  hands 
beneath  her  mantle,  and  said: 

"I  will  be  obedient!" 

"My  great  love  for  you  was  the  cause  of  my  crime. 
Will  you  hate  me  for  it?" 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  59 

It  was  with  a  very  low  voice  that  the  young  wife 
replied : 

"I  will  be  gentle." 

"This  humiliation  will  only  last  for  a  night,"  said  the 
husband  encouragingly.  "Early  to-morrow  morning  we 
will  go  on  our  way.  No  one  will  ever  find  out  who  was 
the  father  of  the  pastor  of  Great  Leta.  We  will  live  in 
peace  and  honor  and  walk  in  the  way  of  the  Lord." 

"Amen!"  answered  the  wife,  but  she  heaved  a  great 
sigh. 

Meanwhile  the  sledge  had  arrived  in  front  of  the 
lonely  house. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Wherein  are  described  the  house  and  the  mistress  of  the  house. 

It  was  a  house  unlike  all  other  houses.  Banished 
beyond  the  walls  of  the  city,  it  had  to  defend  itself  as 
best  it  could.  A  deep  moat  filled  with  stagnant  water 
and  covered  with  green  slime  completely  surrounded  it, 
and  the  drawbridge  which  crossed  the  moat  led  up  to 
a  fortified  palisade  which  formed  a  second  line  of  cir- 
cumvallation.  But  the  drawbridge  was  now  drawn  up 
and  the  portcullis  let  down.  On  the  tops  of  the  palings 
the  hides  of  various  kinds  of  animals  were  hanging  out 
to  dry. 

The  walls  of  the  house  were  made  of  a  rude  sort  of 
rubble,  odd  bricks  without  a  trace  of  mortar.  The 
lower  windows  were  mere  loopholes ;  the  upper  windows 
were  of  every  conceivable  shape  and  size,  but  all,  with- 
out exception,  were  guarded  by  a  double  iron  trellis- 
work.  Right  opposite  the  drawbridge  stood  the  door, 
made  of  heavy  oaken  beams,  traversed  in  all  directions 
by  strong  iron  bands,  and  embossed  with  large  iron- 
headed  nails. 

Inside  the  house  a  pretty  hubbub  was  going  on. 
Even  a  long  way  off  the  howling  of  dogs  could  be 
heard ;  but  close  at  hand  it  sounded  like  a  perfect  pan- 
demonium; there  must  have  been  twenty  dogs  there  at 
the  very  least. 

For  the  house  had  already  been  barred  and  bolted, 
and  the  travelers  beyond  the  moat  might  have  cried  and 

60 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  6 1 

shouted  all  night  without  anyone  hearing  them  had  not 
the  trumpeter  made  one  of  the  party,  and  he  now  blew  with 
all  his  might  the  reveil,  wherewith  the  Imperial  heralds 
were  wont  to  demand  admission  at  the  gates  of  a  castle. 

At  this  trumpet-blast  the  drawbridge  was  slowly  low- 
ered amidst  a  great  rattling  and  clatter  of  bolts  and 
chains,  but  as  the  door  still  remained  closed,  Simplex 
went  boldly  up  to  it,  and  knocked  loudly  with  his  fists. 

Through  the  barking  of  dogs,  which  now  broke  forth 
again  with  redoubled  vigor,  a  hoarse  female  voice 
shrieked : 

"Who  is  at  the  gate  there?"    . 

"The  pastor  of  Great  Leta  and  his  wife,"  Simplex 
roared  back. 

Whereupon  a  furious  yelling  and  a  cracking  of  whips 
was  heard,  as  if  someone  inside  was  dispersing  a  pack 
of  dogs,  and  as  they  scampered  howling  back,  the  creak- 
ing door  slowly  turned  upon  its  rusty  hinges,  allowing 
a  glimpse  into  the  vaulted  hall  which  was  lit  by  a  swing- 
ing lamp. 

In  the  doorway  appeared  a  woman  with  a  large  bunch 
of  keys  in  her  hand. 

It  was  a  tall  bony  shape  in  a  yellow  frock,  with  its 
head  v/rapped  in  a  red  cloth,  from  beneath  which  coal- 
black,  stubbly  bristles  peeped  forth. 

There  had  been  a  time  when  this  woman  was  beauti- 
ful. She  had  oval  features,  a  dimpled  chin,  red  cheeks, 
black  eyebrows,  sparkling  eyes,  and  a  lofty  forehead, 
but  her  whole  face  was  now  full  of  wrinkles,  and  the 
furrows  on  her  forehead  looked  like  the  stave  lines  in  a 
music-book. 

"Jesus,  Mary,  and  St.  Anna  protect  me!"  cried  the 
wagoner,  with  chattering  teeth.  "If  it  is  not  Barbara 
Pirkain  the  flesh!" 


62  PKRTTY  MTCHAL. 

The  woman  laughed  aloud  when  she  perceived  the 
sledge. 

"What!  do  even  the  clergy  ride  on  besoms  nowa- 
days?" she  cried,  with  rough  pleasantry,  while  a  couple 
of  serving-men,  whose  shirt-sleeves  were  tucked  up  to 
their  elbows,  drew  the  bridge  up  again  behind  the  in- 
gliding  sledge  and  then  shut  the  groaning  door. 

"A  pleasant  evening,  Mother  Pirka,"  said  Simplex, 
chucking  the  woman  under  the  chin;  "  'tis  a  long  time 
since  we  two  met  together.     Do  you  recognize  me,  eh?" 

"Hah!"  stammered  the  wagoner,  "you'll  pay  for 
chucking  her  chin  like  that.  The  old  hag  will  twist 
your  neck  for  you  this  very  night.     Mark  my  words!" 

"Be  off,  you  devil's  student!"  cried  the  woman ;  "why 
can't  you  get  out  of  my  way?  Where,  pray,  is  the  pas- 
tor of  Great  Leta?" 

"He  is  lifting  his  wife  out  of  the  sledge  yonder.  Is 
the  master  at  home?"  The  hangman  was  usually  styled 
the  master. 

"Where  should  he  be?  He's  in  his  workshop  of 
course.     But  your  beard  has  grown  since  last  I  saw  you." 

"Since  Mother  Pirka  regaled  me  with  cheese  soup, 
eh?  Don't  you  recollect?  I  then  promised  to  marry 
you  as  soon  as  I  had  grown  up.  Come  now,  shall  we 
have  a  marriage  feast?" 

"If  you  give  her  too  much  of  your  jaw  she'll  ride  you, 
the  hag,"  said  the  wagoner,  tugging  one  of  his  horses  by 
the  mane;  "she'll  put  a  bridle  in  your  mouth  at  night, 
and  ride  you  to  the  very  top  of  the  Krivan ! "  * 

"You  shall  have  all  you  want,"  said  Barbara  to  Sim- 
plex. "Let  the  others  eat  first,  and  then  come  into  the 
kitchen.     You  shall  have  a  good  supper," 

"I'll  take  good  care  not  to  eat  any  of  it,"  said  the 

*  One  of  the  highest  peaks  of  the  Karpathians. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  dl 

wagoner.     "She'll  be  sure  to  give  me  something  to  drink 
which  will  turn  me  into  a  swine." 

"You'll  then  at  least  have  a  finer  burial  than  if  you 
had  remained  a  man,"  jeered  Simplex. 

Nothing  could  induce  the  wagoner  to  stir  a  step  from 
beside  his  horses,  and  he  was  quite  content  to  sup  upon 
the  buckwheat  balls  which  he  had  brought  with  him  in 
his  knapsack.  Simplex,  on  turning  in  himself  about 
midnight,  derisively  assured  his  snoring  companion  that 
he  neighed  as  if  he  were  turned  into  a  horse  already. 

Meanwhile  the  woman  led  the  priest  and  his  wife  into 
the  palisaded  mansion. 

It  was  a  massive  structure,  consisting  of  numerous 
rooms  united  together  by  long  narrow  passages  with 
heavy  iron-clouted  doors.  She  stopped  at  last  in  a 
hexagonal  vaulted  chamber,  from  the  central  arch  of 
which  hung  a  huge  lamp.  But  a  far  brighter  light  came 
from  the  hearth,  whereon  enormous  logs  were  sparkling 
and  crackling. 

Nothing  in  this  chamber  called  to  mind  the  dismal 
business  of  the  master  of  the  house.  Old-fashioned 
presses  were  ranged  around  the  walls,  and  in  the  midst 
of  the  chamber  stood  a  round  table  with  feet  resembling 
tigers*  claws,  and  leather-covered  chairs  all  round  it. 
In  a  corner  stood  a  dumb-waiter  covered  with  glittering 
plate  and  pewter.  Small  pictures  and  clusters  of  weap- 
ons were  visible  on  the  walls.  This  chamber  led  into  a 
small  side-room,  the  door  of  which  was  so  low  that  a 
person  entering  it  had  to  duck  his  head. 

"This  will  be  your  bedroom,"  said  the  woman;  "it 
is  a  nice,  quiet  place,  out  of  hearing  of  the  howling  dogs," 

Barbara  Pirka  no  longer  recognized   Henry,    though 

they  had  often  torn  each  other's  hair  out  in  the  good  old 

times, 

6 


64  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

The  woman  remarked  that  MichaTs  clothing  was  wet 
through,  and  that  her  shoes  had  suffered  from  her  wan- 
derings through  the  mountains. 

"Would  madam  like  to  change  her  clothes?"  asked 
the  old  woman  obsequiously. 

"I  have  no  change,"  replied  Michal,  "the  robbers 
have  taken  the  whole  of  our  baggage,  and  we  ourselves 
only  escaped  from  them  by  the  devious  mountain  paths." 

"D d  scoundrels!     It  would  be  as  well  perhaps  if 

you  were  to  lie  down  in  a  warm  bed,  and  take  a  little  hot 
wine.  That  would  do  you  good,  and  you  need  not  come 
to  supper." 

"I  thank  you  for  your  kindness,"  said  Michal,  who 
was  thinking  all  the  while  of  the  object  of  their  coming 
thiiher — viz.,  the  reconciliation  with  Henry's  father — 
"but  I  wish  to  eat  in  company  with  the  master  of  the 
house." 

"Do  you  really?"  remarked  the  woman,  contracting 
her  brows.  "Are  you  not  afraid  of  him,  then?  Have 
you  so  strong  a  heart?     So  much  the  better." 

With  that  she  turned  and  left  the  room,  and  there  was 
but  time  for  the  husband  and  wife  to  exchange  a  few 
words,  whereby  Michal  learnt  that  Barbara  Pirka  was 
an  old  housekeeper  of  the  Catsriders,  when  back  she 
came  again  with  a  change  of  raiment  on  her  arm. 

It  consisted  of  a  dress  of  heavy  purple  silk,  embroid- 
ered at  the  skirts  with  colored  garlands,  a  girdle  of 
Turkish  stuff,  and  a  broad  lace  collar;  the  bodice  was 
fastened  in  front  with  gold  clasps. 

"You  would  do  well  to  put  on  these  dry  clothes." 

Michal  allowed  the  housekeeper  to  undress  her,  and 
then  help  her  on  first  with  the  silk  dress,  which  had 
been  airing  all  the  time  over  the  fire,  and  then  with  the 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  65 

golden-clasped  bodice,  the  Turkish  girdle,  and  the  lace 
collar. 

"Just  look,  now!     It  might  have  been  made  for  her." 

Then  she  took  Michal's  wet  shoes  from  her  feet  and 
gave  her  instead  slippers  of  fine  red  Korduan  leather, 
and  as  there  was  no  mirror  in  the  room,  she  herself  sup- 
plied its  place  by  turning  her  round  and  round  and  sur- 
veying her  from  head  to  foot. 

"Just  as  if  it  had  been  made  to  order.  Don't  be 
afraid,  my  dear  lady  pastor.  No  common  wench  ever 
wore  that  dress.  It  was  a  noble,  beautiful  lady  who 
once  made  a  brave  show  therein,  and  she  only  wore  it 
twice.  She  looked  like  a  flower,  and  was  the  fairest  of 
the  fair.     I  chopped  off  her  head  myself." 

Michal  felt  her  knees  totter.  She  was  wearing  on  her 
body  the  garments  of  a  woman  who  had  died  a  felon's 
death. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

In  which  are  described  the  joys  of  long-parted  but  finally  reunited 
kinsmen,  and  every  one  learns  to  know  exactly  how  he  stands. 

But  even  if  Michal  had  wished  to  take  off  the  clothes 
there  was  no  time  to  do  so,  for  the  housekeeper  now  said 
that  supper  was  upon  the  table,  and  that  the  master  of 
the  house  awaited  his  guests  in  the  dining-room.  Michal 
meekly  bowed  her  head  on  her  husband's  shoulder,  and 
allowed  herself  to  be  led  into  the  presence  of  the  great 
and  terrible  man. 

The  dining-room  was  in  every  respect  like  the  other 
rooms.  It  had  just  as  many  angles  and  arches,  and  was 
whitewashed  in  precisely  the  same  way.  In  the  middle 
stood  a  table  laid  for  three  persons,  each  cover  con- 
sisting of  two  pewter  dishes,  one  on  the  top  of  the 
other.  There  were  also  two  big-bellied,  glazed  jugs,  with 
pewter  lids,  a  chased  silver  tankard  for  one  of  the  guests, 
a  Venetian  crystal  glass  for  the  other,  and  a  wooden 
mug  for  the  master  of  the  house. 

The  master  of  the  house  already  stood  beside  the 
table  with  his  hands  resting  on  the  back  of  his  chair. 
He  was  a  tall,  commanding  figure,  with  very  broad 
shoulders.  He  wore  a  brown  Polish  jacket  with  long 
sleeves,  a  broad,  buckled  girdle,  and  long  jack-boots. 
His  features  were  hard  and  angular,  his  hair  short  and 
bristly  ;  but  his  beard,  already  grizzled,  hung  down  in 
two  long  flaps,  the  ends  of  which  were  stuck  into  his 
girdle.  His  look  was  grave  and  tranquil,  but  without 
the  slightest  trace  of  human  feeling. 

66 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  67 

Michal  felt  that  her  husband's  hand  was  trembling  as 
he  approached  the  master  of  the  house,  though  he  made 
superhuman  efforts  to  appear  calm. 

"  Peace  and  blessing  rest  upon  this  house  !  "  stammered 
Henry,  whereupon  the  old  man  sighed  deeply  but  with- 
out returning  the  salutation. 

"  Is  your  reverence  the  pastor  of  Great  Leta  ? "  It 
was  the  first  time  he  had  addressed  Henry.  His  voice 
was  deep  and  sonorous  as  if  it  proceeded  from  a  bronze 
statue,  his  whole  body  seemed  to  reecho  the  sound. 

"  I  have  been  elected  the  successor  of  the  late  pastor. 
Forgive  me,  master,  for  causing  you  so  much  incon- 
venience !  " 

"  Your  visit  is  nothing  unusual,"  returned  the  old  man, 
"  the  late  pastor  of  Leta  was  often  a  guest  in  this  sad 
house,"  and  he  thereupon  beckoned  to  his  guests  to  be 
seated. 

"  This  is  my  wife,"  stammered  Henry. 

The  old  man  did  not  even  affect  the  bare  semblance 
of  cordiality.  He  coldly  said  :  "  Women  also,  nowadays, 
seem  to  love  sad  spectacles."  Michal,  however,  before 
sitting  down,  folded  her  hands  on  the  back  of  the  chair, 
and  piously  inclining  her  head  said  grace. 

The  old  man  wrinkled  his  eyebrows  and  turned  his 
face  away. 

Then  they  sat  down  to  eat. 

Nothing  but  vegetables  was  served,  and  after  the 
vegetables  came  cheese.  No  flesh  was  to  be  seen,  not  a 
dish  was  there  which  required  the  assistance  of  a  knife. 
Of  beer  and  wine,  however,  there  was  no  stint.  The 
master  of  the  house  urged  no  one  to  eat,  he  left  that  to 
the  housekeeper.  She  poured  out  for  Michal  beer  and 
wine.  Michal  begged  for  water  instead,  but  this  they 
would   not  give  her.     They  told  her  that  the  water  of 


68  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

Zeb  gave  skin  diseases  to  those  who  drank  of  it.  So 
she  had  to  sip  beer. 

During  the  meal  no  one  broke  silence,  but  after  the 
first  cup  was  drunk,  the  master  of  the  house  raised  his 
voice. 

"  Did  the  rascals  plunder  your  reverence  as  well  ? " 

"  We  ourselves  only  escaped  as  by  a  miracle." 

"  They  will  receive  their  reward.  Your  reverence  will 
see  them  the  day  after  to-morrow." 

Henry  stared  at  him  with  astonishment. 

"  Yes,  the  soldiers  have  captured  six  of  them,  and 
these  with  some  others  will  be  executed  the  day  after  to- 
morrow." 

Henry  looked  blankly  at  the  old  man,  whose  sharp 
eyes  took  in  his  astonishment  at  once. 

"  What  !  has  not  your  reverence  been  sent  here  on 
purpose  to  give  the  last  consolations  of  religion  to  those 
of  the  poor  sinners  who  are  of  the  same  communion  as 
yourself  ?  " 

Henry's  face  grew  pale. 

The  old  man  guessed  his  thoughts. 

"  Such  an  office  is  no  doubt  none  of  the  most  pleasant. 
Not  every  clergyman  likes  to  be  at  the  side  of  the  poor 
sinners  during  such  a  sad  spectacle.  The  Franciscans 
of  Eperies  are  sent  to  shrive  the  Catholics,  the  pastors  of 
Great  Leta  to  comfort  the  Protestants.  Indeed  this 
office  is  part  of  the  cure.  On  every  such  sad  occasion 
the  pastor  of  Great  Leta  has  to  sit  in  the  felons'  car  by 
my  side  with  the  delinquents  opposite.  He  is  therefore 
a  frequent  guest  at  my  house." 

To  Henry  it  seemed  as  if  the  house  were  falling  about 
his  ears.  He  had  known  nothing  of  all  this  till  now. 
He  began  to  wipe  away  the  sweat  from  his  brow. 

"  Did  not   your  reverence  know  then  that  the  black 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  69. 

cassock  of  the  pastor  of  Great  Leta  and  the  red  mantle 
of  the  vihodar  of  Zeb  go  together?  Did  the  Consistory 
conceal  the  fact  from  your  reverence  when  they  recapit- 
ulated the  emoluments  of  the  benefice — a  denarius  for 
each  baptism,  a  Mary-fiorin  for  each  burial,  and  a  Krem- 
nitz  ducat  for  the  last  sacraments  administered  to  each 
poor  felon  ? " 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,"  stammered  Henry,  "  I  did  not 
go  very  closely  into  the  question  of  the  temporalities.  I 
only  thought  about  my  spiritual  duties." 

"  Then  if  you  have  not  come  hither  to  act  as  chaplain 
at  the  execution  of  the  law's  sentence,  to  what  other  cir- 
cumstances does  my  poor  house  owe  the  honor  of  your 
society  ? " 

Michal  threw  Henry  an  encouraging  look,  signifying 
that  now  was  the  time  to  confess  everything. 

"  I  will  tell  you  my  story,  master,"  began  Henry.  "  Ten 
years  ago  I  fled  from  my  father's  house.  My  father  loved 
me.  He  was  good  to  me.  I  was  his  only  son,  and  I  for- 
sook him,  nevertheless,  because  I  did  not  want  to  follow 
his  trade,  because  I  strove  after  higher  things.  It  was 
my  wish  to  become  a  scholar  and  a  clergyman.  For  the 
last  ten  years  I  have  not  let  my  father  know  where  I  was. 
During  that  time  I  have  endured  much  misery  ;  but  I  have 
also  been  compensated  for  it.  I  have  made  progress  in 
the  path  of  learning.  I  was  the  first  among  my  fellow- 
scholars.  The  high-born  sons  of  great  statesmen  and 
churchmen  sat  on  the  same  bench  with  me,  with  me  the 
poor  mendicant  student ;  but  no  one  has  ever  sat  before 
me.  I  outstripped  them  all.  I  was  the  favorite  of  the 
professor  and  the  presbyters.  When  I  mounted  the  pul- 
pit to  preach,  the  people  strained  their  ears  so  as  not  to 
lose  a  single  word,  and  no  one  ever  went  to  sleep  when 
I  was  speaking.     When  scarcely  four-and-twenty  years 


70  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

of  age  I  was  elected  a  regular  minister,  and  the  superin- 
tendent confirmed  the  choice.  I  was  not  even  obliged  to 
officiate  beforehand  as  chaplain  in  the  usual  way.  'Twas 
the  greatest  distinction  which  could  have  befallen  a  theo- 
logian. In  the  examination  which  preceded  my  consecra- 
tion, my  replies  were  such  that  the  whole  Consistory  cried 
unanimously,  *  Eminentissime  ! '  And  my  benefactor, 
my  protector,  the  famous,  most  learned  Dr.  David 
Frohlich,  crowned  the  efforts  of  my  laborious  life  by 
giving  me  his  only  daughter  to  wife.  I  then  resolved  to 
seek  out  in  his  solitude  my  long-deserted  father,  who 
thought  me  dead,  and  was  passing  his  declining  years  in 
dreary  abandonment.  I  said  to  my  beloved  wife,  '  Let 
us  go  and  seek  out  my  poor  old  father,  let  us  present 
ourselves  as  traveling  strangers  and  take  him  by  surprise. 
We  owe  our  first  visit  to  him.'  My  beloved  agreed  to 
my  wishes.  On  the  day  after  the  wedding  we  set  out  to 
visit  my  father,  but  robbers  waylaid  our  caravan  and  took 
from  us  our  horse  and  mule.  We  ourselves,  guided  by 
good  men,  escaped  by  making  a  long  detour  over  the 
mountains,  after  which  we  continued  our  journey  by 
sledge  in  wretched  plight.  Night  overtook  us.  We  found 
the  gates  of  the  city  closed.  We  were  too  much  afraid 
of  robbers  to  pass  the  night  outside.  We  perceived  a 
house  in  front  of  the  town.  We  begged  for  admittance 
and  it  was  granted,  and  now  we  beg  pardon  for  the 
trouble  we  have  caused." 

The  master  of  the  house  kept  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  lips 
of  the  speaker  till  he  had  quite  finished. 

"  Then  a  mere  chance  has  brought  your  reverence 
hither?" 

Henry's  lips  refused  to  say  yes,  he  merely  nodded  with 
his  head,  as  if,  forsooth,  it  were  not  as  great  a  sin  to  lie 
with  the  whole  head  as  with  the  mouth  alone  ! 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  71 

"  Then  until  your  reverence  has  received  your  father's 
blessing,  you  cannot,  I  presume,  taste  of  the  earthly  joys 
of  wedded  life  ? "  inquired  the  master  of  the  house,  there- 
by betraying  not  only  his  acquaintance  with  ecclesiastical 
ordinances  but  the  possession  of  the  art  of  expressing 
himself  politely. 

"  True,  but  such  consent  I  hope  to  obtain  this  very 
day,  for  I  am  now  in  my  father's  house.  My  name  is 
Henry  Catsrider,"  and  with  that  the  young  man  rose  from 
his  seat. 

But  the  lady,  in  a  transport  of  conjugal  loyalty  and 
devotion,  threw  herself  at  the  father's  feet,  seized  his 
hand  and  kissed  it. 

She  actually  kissed  the  hand  of  the  vihodar,  the  heads- 
man. With  glowing,  cleaving  lips  she  kissed  the  hand 
which  had  never  been  kissed. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

In  the  course  of  which  the  stern  father,  in  the  hardness  of  his  heart, 
chastizes  his  lost  son,  but  finally  grants  forgiveness  to  the  repent- 
ant prodigal. 

When  Christian  Catsrider  felt  the  kiss  of  the  young 
bride  on  his  hand,  he  hissed  three  times  like  one  who 
has  been  seared  with  a  red-hot  iron. 

But  when  Henry  also  would  have  approached  him,  the 
old  man  stretched  out  his  long  arm,  and  laying  his  hand 
on  his  son's  shoulder  forced  him  back  into  his  seat  with 
as  much  force  as  if  he  had  used  a  heavy  iron  lever  for  the 
purpose. 

It  was  only  to  Michal  that  the  old  man  spoke. 

"  So  this  tender  creature  has  not  come  hither  to  see  the 
horrors  of  an  execution  after  all?  I  am  glad  of  it.  On 
such  occasions  there  are  generally  more  women  present 
than  men,  ay,  and  young  women  too  !  What's  her  name  ? 
Michal— and  this  fellow — Henry  !     Ah  ! " 

With  that  he  rose  from  the  table. 

But  Michal  still  held  his  iron  hand  in  her  hands,  and 
clasping  it  tightly  with  her  fingers  softly  whispered  grace, 
the  old  man  turning  his  head  aside  all  the  time.  Then 
he  drew  his  hand  out  of  Michal's  hands,  but  as  she  still 
kept  kneeling  at  his  feet  as  if  expecting  something  more, 
the  old  man  let  his  long  sleeve  fall  right  over  his  hands 
till  the  very  tips  of  his  fingers  were  covered,  and  then  he 
laid  them  gently  on  Michal's  head  so  that  that  innocent 
head  might  not  be  polluted  by  the  touch  of  his  bare  hand. 

Then  Michal  arose  from  her  knees. 

78 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  73 

But  the  master  did  not  extend  his  hand  to  his  son. 
On  the  contrary,  when  the  housekeeper  entered  to  clear 
the  table,  he  told  her  to  leave  it  alone  for  the  present, 
and  first  of  all  conduct  the  gentle  lady  to  her  room,  make 
her  a  comfortable  bed,  lay  her  down  in  it  and  lull  her 
gently  to  sleep.  *•  The  reverend  gentleman,"  he  added, 
"will  remain  behind  with  me,  for  I've  a  couple  of  words 
to  say  to  him." 

Michal  thanked  him  for  his  courtesy,  and  holding  out 
her  hand  to  her  husband,  a.sked  him  shyly  : 

*'  I  suppose  you  will  come  soon  ?" 

"  As  soon  as  I  have  received  my  father's  blessing,"  re- 
plied Henry,  unctuously,  from  which  Barbara  Pirka 
gathered  that  the  clergyman  was  the  master's  son. 

The  heavy  doors  had  no  sooner  closed  behind  the  two 
women  than  Christian  Catsrider  said  to  his  son  : 

"Follow  me!" 

With  that  he  took  out  of  his  side  pocket  a  key  with  a 
double  ward,  and  unlocked  therewith  a  secret  door,  dis- 
covering a  spiral  staircase  which  led  up  to  a  tower. 

Henry  knew  from  experience  that  the  old  man  kept 
his  treasures  in  this  tower.  That  his  father  should  lead 
him  thither  seemed  therefore  an  omen  of  good. 

"Take  the  lamp  and  go  on  before." 

Henry  took  the  lamp  and  led  the  way  up  the  staircase 
whilst  the  old  man  closed  the  iron  door  behind  them. 

After  ascending  twelve  steps,  they  came  to  a  large  round 
room.  Heaped  up  all  round  liy,  not  the  treasures  of  the 
master,  but  all  the  instruments  of  his  trade  which  were 
employed  in  the  torturings  and  executions  of  those  times, 
with  a  description  of  which  we  will  not  harrow  the  readers 
of  this  sufficiently  sad  story.  Nowadays  these  instru- 
ments are  only  to  be  found  in  museums  ;  men  have  dis- 
covered other  ways  of  ameliorating  their  fellow-creatures. 


74  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

Henry  looked  around  him  with  horror  at  this  frightful 
arsenal.  He  could  not  imagine  what  the  old  man  had  to 
say  to  him  in  such  a  place. 

The  master  did  not  leave  him  very  long  in  doubt.  On 
the  wall  hung  an  enormous  two-edged  sword  in  a  sheath  of 
black  leather.  This  sword  the  old  man  took  down,  and 
drew  from  its  red  velvet-lined  sheath  the  broad  blade, 
which  was  concave  at  both  edges  from  much  grinding, 
and  of  a  mirror-like  brightness  ;  then,  seizing  the  weapon 
with  both  hands,  he  said  to  his  son  in  a  cold,  calm  voice  : 

"  Kneel  down,  my  lad.     You  must  die  !  " 

"  Oh  !  my  father  !  "  cried  Henry. 

"No,  not  your  father.     Your  judge  and  executioner." 

"Why  do  you  want  to  kill  me?" 

"  I  have  been  headsman  of  Zeb  for  forty  years.  During 
that  time  I  have  dispatched  many  malefactors  to  the  other 
world  ;  but  such  a  precious  scoundrel  as  you  are  it  has 
never  yet  been  my  misfortune  to  meet." 

"  What  offense  have  I  committed  ?  "  asked  the  horror- 
stricken  Henry. 

*'  You  have  run  through  a  whole  catalogue  of  crimes, 
each  one  of  which  is  sufficient  to  bring  a  man  to  the 
scaffold.  You  are  a  thief !  You  have  robbed  the  bene- 
factor who  received  you  into  his  house.  You  are  a 
liar  !  You  have  denied  your  own  father.  You  are  a 
blasphemer !  You  have  stretched  out  your  hand 
toward  the  sacrament  of  the  altar,  knowing  all  the 
time  that  you  were  profaning  that  holy  rite.  You  are  a 
murderer — a  parricide-!  For  never  was  a  man's  affec- 
tion so  cruelly  murdered  as  mine  has  been  by  you,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  honor  of  this  innocent  woman  and 
her  father.     Enough  ;  you  must  die  !  " 

"  But  if  I  have  commited  such  crimes,  why  not  bring 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  75 

me  before  the  judges  ?    I  ought  to  be  judged  according 
to  law  and  equity." 

'*  Hold  your  tongue.  You  are  beyond  the  pale  of  the 
law.  There  is  a  statute  in  force  against  abductors. 
That  statute  says  that  whosoever  is  caught  in  the  act  of 
abducting  a  youth  or  a  maiden  need  not  be  brought  be- 
fore the  tribunals,  but  may  be  sent  direct  to  the  heads- 
man, who  is  to  judge  and  sentence  him  forthwith.  Now 
you  are  such  a  robber.  You  have  abducted  a  girl. 
You  are  caught  in  the  act.  And  I  will  be  a  merciful 
judge  to  you,  for  I'll  condemn  you  simply  to  be  be- 
headed.    Undress  and  kneel  down  !  " 

Henry  rallied  all  his  courage.  He  began  to  smile. 
Perhaps  the  old  man  was  jesting  with  him.  Perhaps  he 
wanted  to  try  his  courage. 

"'Tis  well,  my  father.  You've  scared  me  enough 
now.  A  truce  to  jesting.  I've  neither  murdered  nor 
robbed.  I  am  certainly  anything  but  a  parricide.  If  I 
did  not  honor  my  father,  I  should  not  be  here  now. 
Pray  give  me  your  blessing,  therefore,  and  let  me  go  to 
my  wife.  Michal  followed  me  of  her  own  free  will,  and 
she  is  waiting  for  me  now." 

"  The  virgin  you  have  brought  with  you  is  not  your 
wife,  and  she  awaits  you  in  vain.  At  dawn  I  will  send 
her  back  to  her  father  under  a  strong  escort  together 
with  the  news  of  your  death." 

At  these  words  the  son  was  seized  with  a  paroxysm 
of  rage.  Trusting  in  the  great  strength  by  which  he 
had  so  often  distinguished  himself  among  his  fellow- 
scholars,  he  fell  fiercely  upon  his  father.  He  fancied  he 
would  be  able  to  wrest  the  sword  from  him,  break  loose 
from  this  ambuscade,  and  venture  another  leap  through 
the  dormer  window  and  over  the  palisades,  as  he  had 


76  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

done  ten  years  before.  But  he  reckoned  without  his 
host.  The  old  man  had  only  to  stretch  out  his  left 
hand,  seize  him  by  the  chest  and  hurl  him  like  a  young 
kitten  to  the  other  side  of  the  room,  where  he  bounded 
head  foremost  against  the  wall,  and  fell  all  of  a  heap. 

"  It  only  needed  that,"  murmured  the  old  man. 
"Now  that  you  have  raised  your  hand  against  your 
master  and  judge,  against  your  own  father,  you've  not 
another  crime  to  commit.  This  is  the  first  case  among 
the  thousands  of  which  I  have  had  experience  in  which 
the  condemned  has  presumed  to  wrestle  with  the  heads- 
man. Curer  of  souls  indeed  !  In  what  Bible  did  you 
learn  that,  I  should  like  to  know." 

The  humilated  wretch,  after  this  overthrow,  lost  his 
strength  of  mind  altogether.  The  hero  who  had  thus 
found  his  master  in  a  physical  encounter  no  longer  felt 
equal  to  an  intellectual  contest ;  he  writhed  to  his  father 
on  his  knees,  and  cried,  sobbing  loudly  all  the  time  : 

"  Mercy,  my  father  !     I  am  your  only  son  ! " 

"A  precious  only  son,  truly,  who  has  outraged  his 
own  father.  You  fled  from  me.  You  said  to  yourself  : 
*  My  father  pursues  a  dishonorable  trade.  I  will  not 
share  his  fate  !  '  Alas  !  that  it  should  be  so.  I  cleanse 
the  human  race  of  its  filth.  My  hand  cannot  be  as 
white  as  a  lily.  They  send  for  me  to  wipe  away  all 
their  dirt,  all  that  is  vile  and  disgusting.  A  terrible 
fate  !  But  someone,  if  it  be  only  one  in  a  hundred 
thousand,  must  submit  to  it.  Evil-doers  thrive  like  a 
brood  of  serpents.  You  have  seen  them  yourself.  You 
have  been  surrounded  by  them.  You  have  felt  how 
powerful  they  are  even  where  the  sword  has  been 
whetted  to  destroy  them.  I  have  already  peopled  many 
a  room  in  hell  with  these  damned  spirits,  and  yet  they 
spring  up  again  like  so  many  poisonous  funguses.     But 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  77 

for  the  gallows  the  dominion  of  Satan  in  these  parts 
would  gain  the  upper  hand.  I  too  live  in  a  state  of 
horror  night  and  day.  When  I  am  alone  I  loathe  my- 
self. When  I  lay  me  down  to  sleep,  someone  must 
stand  by  my  bedside  to  wake  me  when  I  dream,  for  the 
dreams  I  dream  are  ghastly.  Once  I  even  resigned  my 
office.  The  King's  grace  releases  the  headsman  after  a 
thirty  years'  service,  and  a  Royal  decree  ennobles  him 
after  a  thirty  years'  obloquy.  But  I  had  not  laid  the 
sword  aside  for  more  than  six  months  when  traveling 
in  the  district  became  impossible.  In  the  town,  women 
were  robbed  in  the  broad  daylight,  and  malefactors 
danced  in  the  churches,  which  they  had  broken  open 
and  plundered.  I  again  began  to  work  in  blood.  A 
ghastly  work !  Men  hide  themselves,  dogs  howl,  graz- 
ing flocks  disperse  when  they  scent  me  from  afar. 
There  is  no  seat  for  me  in  the  church,  and  every  door  in 
the  town  is  closed  against  me.  The  good  abhor  me 
even  more  than  the  evil.  But  for  all  that  I  care  nothing. 
What  does  grieve  me  is  that  my  son  should  loathe  me. 
The  thousands  of  terrifying  shapes  which  are  waiting 
for  me  in  the  next  world  to  stone  me  with  their  decapi- 
tated heads  do  not  frighten  me.  My  own  son,  who 
smites  me  in  the  face,  he  it  is  who  really  hurls  me  into 
hell." 

"  No,  my  father,"  interrupted  Henry,  "  I  adjure  you 
by  the  living  God  not  to  say  so.  I  do  not  abhor  you. 
You,  too,  serve  humanity.  I  condemn  you  not.  But 
Heaven  has  not  given  me  so  strong  a  heart  as  yours.  I 
have  chosen  the  mission  of  reconciliation,  of  ameliora- 
tion. I,  too,  would  destroy  the  evil  which  you  destroy, 
if  not  with  the  sword  at  least  by  the  Word  of  God." 

"  Then  you  think  it  belongs  to  the  eternal  fitness  of 
things  that  your  father  should  be  a  headsman,  while  you 


78  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

are  a  curer  of  souls ;  that  when  you  are  dispensing  the 
Lord's  Supper,  all  the  people  should  look  with  fear  and 
loathing  at  your  hand  to  see  whether  you  have  not  inher- 
ited some  blood-mark  from  your  father  ;  that  the  chil- 
dren in  your  parish  should  come  into  the  world  with  red 
blotches  instead  of  moles  ;  that  the  rabble,  when  we  sit 
side  by  side  in  the  felons'  car,  should  cry  out  :  '  There 
go  the  headsman  and  his  son,  the  parson  ;  the  old  'un 
flays  the  sinners,  and  the  youngster  patches  'em  up 
again  ! '  Perhaps,  however,  you  think  nothing  of  the 
sort.  Perhaps  you  will  prefer  to  go  on  denying  your 
father.  Perhaps  you  will  prefer  to  live  a  lie  six  days  in 
the  week,  and  then  ascend  the  pulpit  to  preach  eternal 
truth  on  the  seventh  day.  But  then  would  not  the 
words  '  Our  Father 'stick  in  your  throat?  Would  you 
not  hear  the  devil  whispering  in  your  ear  every  time  you 
repeated  the  fifth  commandment?  But  enough  of  this. 
Keep  steady  !  Stretch  out  your  head,  and  let  us  make 
an  end  of  it !  " 

The  young  man  was  almost  in  a  state  of  collapse.  He 
tried  to  raise  himself  from  the  floor  with  one  hand,  and, 
as  if  even  the  cold  stones  had  pity  upon  him,  there 
suddenly  resounded  from  the  room  below  a  soft  chant, 
a  lowly  prayer  sung  by  a  woman's  gentle  voice : 

Glory  be  to  God  the  Lord, 
My  refuge  and  my  great  reward. 
To  Him  my  prayer  shall  ever  be 
Who  holp  me  in  extremity. 

The  young  man  began  to  sob.  The  father  leaned 
with  both  hands  upon  his  sword.  For  a  long  time  he 
was  silent.  He  would  not  speak  so  long  as  that  eve- 
ning prayer  lasted. 

His  son  threw  himself  sobbing  on  the  ground,  and 
moistened  the  flagstones  with  his  tears. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  79 

"Do  you  wish  to  live?  "asked  tlie  father  in  alow 
voice. 

Henry  rose  from  the  ground  with  overflowing  joy.  He 
was  certain  from  this  sudden  softness  of  tone  that  the 
mortal  rage  of  his  father  had  given  way  to  a  milder 
frame  of  mind. 

"  Are  you  not  sorry  for  that  poor  creature  ? "  inquired 
his  father. 

"  I  love  her  as  I  love  my  own  soul,  " 

"  I  didn't  ask  you  that,  I  asked  you  whether  you  feel 
compassion  for  her  ;  you  need  say  no  more." 

"Yes,  I  do." 

"  Do  you  feel  compassion  for  your  father  ?  " 

"  I  love  and  honor  you." 

"  Don't  talk  so  much,  but  answer  my  question  !  " 

"  God  knows  that  I  feel  compassion  for  you." 

"  You  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  into  your  mouth 
much  too  often.  If  you  want  to  live,  if  you  have  any 
pity  for  me  and  for  that  poor  creature,  rise  up  !  Don't 
blubber  !  It's  not  pretty  and  does  not  become  you. 
You  are  a  man,  remember  !  Take  off  that  garment ! 
Here's  another  !     Put  it  on  and  follow  me  !  " 

Henry  took  off  his  black  cassock  and  put  on  the  linen 
jacket  which  the  old  man  had  taken  out  of  a  cupboard 
for  him.  It  was  a  plain  jacket,  without  either  buttons  or 
buckles,  and  fastened  round  the  waist  by  a  leather  girdle. 
It  did  not  escape  Henry  that  the  old  man  carefully 
counted  out  two  hundred  gold  pieces,  which  he  took 
from  the  same  cupboard  and  put  into  the  girdle.  "  'Tis 
yours,"  said  he,  as  he  buckled  the  girdle  round  his  son's 
body.  Then  he  beckoned  to  him  to  take  the  lamp  and 
again  go  on  in  front,  only  this  time  they  descended  the 
staircase.     The  old  man  took  the  sword  with  him. 

Henry  was  thinking  to  himself  that  if  he  could  only 

6 


8o  PRETTY  MIC  HAL. 

escape  from  his  father  with  a  whole  skin  he  would  never 
venture  within  those  walls  again  so  long  as  the  old  man 
was  alive. 

But  the  old  man  also  knew  very  well  what  his  son's 
thoughts  were,  and  he  himself  was  thinking  of  how  he 
could  best  prevent  him  from  doing  anything  of  the  sort 
again. 


CHAPTER  X. 

In  which  is  shown  how  vain  it  is  for  womankind  to  murmur  against 
the  course  and  order  of  this  world. 

Pretty  Michal  was  trembling  in  all  her  limbs  when 
the  housekeeper  undressed  and  put  her  to  bed. 

Barbara  Pirka  went  out  of  her  way  to  be  agreeable  and 
obliging.  She  wanted  to  make  Michal  a  hot  salt  and 
bran  poultice  and  prepare  her  a  posset  of  centaury,  but 
these  and  sundry  other  good  offices  Michal  absolutely 
declined,  declaring  that  she  had  no  fear  of  catching 
cold. 

After  putting  the  young  woman  to  bed,  she  sat  down 
beside  her,  and  rubbed  ISlichal's  tiny  white  feet  between 
her  hands.  She  said  it  was  good  remedy  against  sleep- 
lessness and  anxiety. 

"My  hand  has  power,"  explained  Pirka;  "  I  am  a 
seventh  child  and  a  witch  to  boot." 

An  ill-bred  person  would  have  burst  out  laughing  ;  but 
Michal  looked  at  Pirka  with  an  astonishment  which  had 
more  of  reverence  in  it  than  of  fear.  She  had  never 
seen  a  witch  before. 

It  pleased  Pirka  to  see  how  Michal  folded  her  hands 
together  as  if  in  prayer. 

"  Yes.  Now  I'm  a  witch  and  can  make  and  mar  as  I 
please.  But  even  those  whom  I  benefit  must  suffer  for 
it.  I  was  once  the  wife  of  a  headsman  myself.  The 
business  pleased  me.  The  only  thing  that  surprises  me 
is  how  a  judge  can  leave  to  another  the  torturing  and  ex- 
ecution of  those  he  has  condemned  to  death  instead  of 

8i 


82  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

doing  it  himself.  If  I  were  the  Emperor  I  would  make 
a  decree  that  every  judge  should  be  his  own  executioner. 
I  was  always  at  my  husband's  side  when  he  was  at  work, 
I  would  not  have  stayed  away  at  any  price.  When  the 
felon  was  a  woman  I  used  to  clip  off  her  hair  with  a  pair 
of  shears.  What  a  lot  of  lovely  hair  I've  cut  off  in  my 
time  !  After  my  husband's  death  (a  mad  dog  bit  him  and 
he  died  from  the  effects  of  it),  I  continued  the  business  with 
an  assistant.  My  assistant  was  a  lanky,  awkward  fellow. 
Once  he  put  me  to  shame  on  the  scaffold  by  breaking 
down  altogether  at  his  task,  so  I  snatched  the  sword  out 
of  his  hand  and  finished  the  job  myself.  Then  they  took 
the  business  away  from  me  and  kicked  me  out :  they  said 
that  it  was  not  meet  that  a  woman  should  wield  the 
headsman's  sword.  So  I  came  hither  and  entered  the 
service  of  this  vihodar.  He  could  get  no  other  servant, 
and  no  other  master  would  look  at  me.  But  you  are 
shivering,  my  dovey  !  Shall  I  tell  you  some  pretty  tale, 
my  pet  ?" 

At  the  word  "  dovey  "  Michal  suddenly  recollected  her 
favorite  fantail  pigeon,  which  she  had  put  into  her 
pocket,  and  she  begged  Barbara  to  take  out  the  poor 
creature  and  give  it  meat  and  drink.  She  had  brought 
some  grain  with  her. 

"  All  right,  my  darling  !  But  the  dove  cannot  remain 
in  this  house.  There  are  so  many  owls  and  hawks  here 
that  the  timid  creature  would  die  of  fright  at  the  very 
sight  of  these  savage  birds  of  prey  ;  and  besides,  don't 
you  know  that  if  your  little  hen  pigeon  were  to  live  here 
and  lay  eggs  without  pairing,  and  hatch  them,  the  brood 
would  be  goblins  instead  of  chickens  ?" 

Superstition  is  contagious.  Michal  already  began  to 
believe  that  her  dove  would  hatch  a  brood  of  gnomes. 

She  began  to  be  tormented  with  a  desire  to  know  ex- 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  83 

actly  how  she  stood,  and  what  was  going  on  about  her. 
Pirka  was  a  queer  creature,  certainly  ;  but  she  was  the 
only  woman  in  the  house,  and  women  always  hold  to- 
gether, especially  in  such  a  house  as  this.  She  was  not 
afraid  of  speaking  out  before  Pirka. 

Pirka  fed  the  dove  and  gave  it  water,  and  then  stuck  it 
into  Michal's  pocket  again. 

"  There  now  !  "  she  said.  "  She  feels  all  the  better 
for  that,  I  know." 

Then  she  covered  up  the  pretty  lady  with  a  warm 
counterpane  and  a  bearskin,  and  while  doing  so  caught 
sight  of  the  small  silk  sachet  which  was  fastened  round 
her  neck.  Pirka's  eyes  began  to  sparkle  savagely.  She 
thought  it  was  an  amulet  against  witchcraft  ;  but  Michal 
told  her  that  it  was  only  a  talisman  against  the  plague, 
nothing  more.     Then  Pirka  laughed. 

"  You  don't  need  that  here.  The  plague  never  pene- 
trates into  this  house.  At  the  time  of  the  great  Egyptian 
sickness  the  headsmen  were  the  gravediggers.  Not  one 
of  them  died." 

"  How  was  that  ?  " 

"  Why,  don't  you  know  ?  They've  made  a  compact 
with  Death." 

Of  course  no  one  need  take  this  literally,  but  it  is  cer- 
tain that  men  with  such  blunted  nerves  as  headsmen  are 
not  so  liable  to  contagion  as  other  people. 

"  It  is  a  memento  of  my  poor  mother,"  said  Michal, 
pressing  the  silken  sachet  to  her  lips. 

"  Don't  do  that,"  said  Pirka,  in  a  warning  voice.  "As 
often  as  one  kisses  such  mementos  the  dead  person 
turns  round  in  his  grave." 

At  this  Michal  could  not  restrain  her  tears. 

"  Come,  come,  my  pretty  darling,  don't  weep  !  Shall 
I  tell  you  a  pretty  tale  ?     What  shall  it  be  about  ?  " 


^4  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

Michal  ceased  to  sob.     She  begged  Pirka  to  tell  her 
the  story  of  the  lady  whose  dress  she  had  worn  that  day. 

"  Alas,  alas,  my  darling  !   that  is  a  very  sad  story  ; 
you'll  not  be  able  to  sleep  if  you  hear  that." 

But  she  told  her  about  it  all  the  same. 

"  There  was  once  a  wondrously  beautiful  lady,  the 
only  daughter  of  a  noble  house.  They  married  her  to  a 
Polish  lord  whom  she  did  not  love.  She  loved  another, 
a  beautiful,  brown  Hungarian  lad,  and  what  is  more  she 
took  care  never  to  be  very  far  away  from  him.  One  day 
the  Polish  nobleman  observed  that  his  wife  had  on  a 
beautiful  dress  of  cornflower-blue  silk.  He  asked  her  : 
'  Where  did  you  get  that  beautiful  silk  dress  from  ? ' 
She  replied  :  '  My  mother  sent  it  to  me  from  Szeszko  as  a 
birthday  gift.'  The  husband  did  not  shirk  the  trouble 
of  riding  all  the  way  to  Szeszko  and  asking  his  mother- 
in-law  whether  she  had  sent  her  daughter  the  beautiful 
blue  dress.  Back  he  came  to  his  wife.  '  Wife,  your 
mother  has  told  me  that  she  sent  you  that  blue  dress. 
You  have  lied  and  your  mother  has  lied  also.  Confess 
now  from  whom  you  got  that  beautiful  dress.'  Then  his 
wife  told  him  she  had  bought  it  at  the  Lemberg  fair  with 
her  own  money  from  an  Armenian  of  Ungvar.  The  hus- 
band did  not  shirk  the  trouble  of  riding  all  the  way  to 
Ungvar.  There  he  sought  out  the  Armenian  and  asked 
if  his  wife  had  purchased  from  him  the  cornflower  blue 
dress.  Then  he  came  back  and  sent  for  his  wife.  •  Wife, 
wife,  you  have  not  spoken  the  truth,  and  the  Armenian 
has  lied  as  well  as  you,  for  he  said  you  did  buy  the  corn- 
flower dress  from  him.'  Then,  at  last,  the  woman  con- 
fessed that  she  got  the  cornflower-blue  dress  from  her 
lover.  It  was  the  death  of  her.  She  was  condemned  to 
be  beheaded.  She  was  obliged  to  mount  the  scaffold  in 
her  beautiful  dress,  and  there  take  it  off  and  put  on  sack- 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  85 

cloth.  Never  had  so  handsome  a  face,  so  majestic  a  fig- 
ure, and  such  a  soft,  swan-like  neck  been  seen  there  be- 
fore. It  was  then  I  met  with  the  mishap  I've  already 
told  you  of.  When  my  chief  assistant  seized  the  sword 
and  saw  such  a  beautiful  creature  before  him,  he  grew 
green  in  the  face,  his  eyes  became  fixed  and  glazed,  his 
knees  tottered,  and  at  last,  as  if  seized  by  an  epileptic  fit, 
he  fell  down  and  tumbled  backward  off  the  scaffold. 
Then  I  gave  the  sword  to  my  younger  assistant.  He, 
however,  sank  down  on  his  knees  before  the  kneeling 
lady,  held  the  handle  of  his  sword  in  front  of  him  like  a 
crucifix,  and  began  to  chant  an  Ave  Maria.  The  sheriff 
was  filled  with  dismay,  the  Polish  nobleman,  who  stood 
close  by,  began  to  curse,  called  all  who  dwelt  in  Hun- 
gary cowardly  milksops,  and  spat  on  the  scaffold.  Filled 
with  fury  thereat,  I  seized  the  sword  and  with  a  single 
blow  cut  off  the  woman's  head.  Then  I  took  up  the 
head  by  its  long  tresses  and  dashed  it  in  the  nobleman's 
face.  *  You  Polack,'  I  cried,  '  take  home  what  is  yours  ! ' 
That  was  why  they  drove  me  away." 

A  cold  shudder  ran  through  Michal's  limbs  despite  all 
her  warm  wrappings. 

**  How  long  Henry  remains  away,"  she  whispered  softly. 

"  I'll  go  out,  my  pretty  lambkin,  and  listen  at  the  door 
to  hear  what  he  is  saying  to  the  old  master." 

So  Pirka  went  through  the  dining-room  and  stopped 
to  listen  at  the  iron  door  and  find  out  what  was  going  on 
in  the  tower  ;  and  Michal,  meanwhile,  sang  that  evening 
hymn  which  had  reached  the  ears  of  the  headsman  and 
his  son. 

Soon  afterward  Barbara  Pirka  returned,  and  with  a 
sly  grin  whispered  in  Michal's  ear  : 

"  Don't  fret,  darling,  the  old  man  has  made  it  all  up, 
and  now  they  are  hugging  and  kissing  each  other." 


86  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

But  Still  Henry  did  not  come  back  to  his  wife. 

The  howling  of  many  dogs  resounded  through  the 
courtyard  below.  The  hideous  din  penetrated  the  thick 
vaults  and  double  corridors  and  reached  the  very  room 
where  Michal  lay. 

"  They  will  soon  be  quiet,"  said  the  housekeeper 
grimly. 

Michal,  in  order  to  change  the  subject  to  something 
more  agreeable,  asked  Pirka  whether  there  was  any  gar- 
den to  the  house. 

"  You  can't  keep  one,"  answered  Pirka.  "  Here  neither 
tree  nor  flower  will  flourish.  The  master's  wife  found 
that  out  long  ago,  when  she  tried  to  garden.  The  first 
summer  after  she  came  here,  all  the  branches  of  the  trees 
curved  inwardly  as  if  they  would  have  crept  under  the 
ground,  and  the  roots  were  devoured  by  worms.  Noth- 
ing prospers  but  the  black  elder-tree,  and  even  that  pro- 
duces red  berries." 

Meanwhile,  the  howling  of  the  dogs  grew  fainter,  as  if 
the  number  of  them  was  gradually  growing  smaller. 

"  What  a  long  time  Henry  remains  away,"  sighed  the 
young  wife. 

"  He'll  very  soon  be  here  now,  my  pretty  sweetheart!  " 

By  this  time  only  two  dogs  were  howling  in  the  court- 
yard below. 

Pirka  smiled,  and  began  to  arch  her  eyebrows. 

"  His  reverence  will  be  here  almost  immediately,"  said 
she. 

And  now  only  a  single  dog  was  howling  through  the 
night. 

The  storm,  too,  furiously  shook  the  window-casements- 

Suddenly  the  last  dog  ceased  barking. 

Pirka  blinked,  and  said  : 

"  The  master  will  soon  be  here  now." 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  87 

During  these  odd  scenes,  Michal  consoled  herself  with 
the  reflection  that  the  whole  thing  would  be  over  in  a 
day.  Even  the  last  day  and  the  last  night  of  a  con- 
demned felon  must  come  to  an  end.  Let  them  once  get 
over  this  unpleasant  day  and  they  would  go  right  away. 
They  would  have  a  home  of  their  own,  a  quiet,  peaceful 
parsonage  all  to  themselves,  with  a  large  flower  garden 
and  a  dove-cot. 

Barbara  Pirka  had  prophesied  rightly.  Soon  after 
the  last  dog  had  quite  ceased  howling  a  man's  step  was 
heard  approaching  the  door  of  the  bedroom.  Pirka  mur- 
mured an  incantation  in  the  gipsy  tongue  over  Michal, 
which  might  have  been  a  blessing  for  all  that  Michal 
knew  to  the  contrary.     Then  the  old  woman  withdrew. 

Immediately  afterward  Henry  came  in.  The  first 
thing  he  did  was  to  extinguish  the  lamp,  so  that  his  wife 
might  not  see  his  face.  Then  he  undressed  and  lay 
down  beside  her,  for  they  both  shared  the  same  couch. 
Henry  threw  the  bearskin  coverlet  off  the  bed  ;  he  was 
bathed  in  sweat. 

The  young  wife  was  shivering,  and  her  teeth  chattered. 
She  drew  herself  up  like  a  hedgehog,  and  dared  not 
close  her  eyes.  To  prevent  herself  from  falling  asleep 
she  kept  on  repeating  all  the  quotations  which  she  knew 
by  heart  one  after  the  other. 

But  Henry  was  in  a  raging  fever.  He  kept  tossing 
about  on  his  couch,  and  murmured  repeatedly,  "Jesus, 
Maria,  and  St.  Joseph  !  "  and  whenever  sleep  was  about 
to  overcome  him  he  would  almost  throttle  himself,  and 
plunge  with  his  feet  till  he  almost  kicked  out  the  footboard. 

The  wife  trembled,  the  husband  groaned,  the  tempest 
outside  shook  the  window-panes,  the  weathercocks 
creaked  on  the  roof,  the  owls  hooted  in  the  lofts,  ,t«id  so 
the  night  wore  on. 


88  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

It  was  only  toward  morning  that  sleep  sank  down 
upon  the  young  wife's  weary  eyelids.  She  had  already 
kept  vigil  for  two  nights  running,  and  now  her  slumber 
was  tormented  by  frightful  dreams  till,  when  the  morn- 
ing was  far  advanced,  Barbara  Pirka  came  and  woke 
her. 

The  housekeeper  brought  the  sleeper  a  steaming  wine- 
posset  in  a  porcelain  bowl. 

Michal  was  not  in  the  least  refreshed  by  her  repose. 
She  felt  weaker  than  ever.  A  parching  thirst  tormented 
her.  All  her  bones  ached.  She  was  glad  that  Pirka  had 
brought  her  drink.  She  cared  little  whether  the  woman 
was  a  witch  or  not,  and  she  felt  that  it  would  not  much 
matter  if  the  hag's  potion  were  to  enchant  her  and 
change  her  into  some  bestial  shape. 

She  eagerly  took  the  bowl  and  drained  it  to  the  very 
dregs. 

Then  she  called  Barbara  Pirka,  and  said : 

"  Where  is  my  husband  ?  " 

Pirka  replied  : 

"  He  has  gone  to  town  with  his  father." 

"  And  what  is  my  husband  doing  in  town  ? "  asked 
pretty  Michal  once  more. 

"  He  is  helping  his  father  to  catch  dogs." 


CHAPTER    XL 

Wherein  is  shown  what  terrible  perils  befall  women  who  are  not  re- 
signed to  their  fate,  and  do  not  obey  their  lords  and  masters. 

Pretty  Michal  did  not  immediately  expire  on  receiv- 
ing this  answer.  For  a  moment,  indeed,  she  really  be- 
lieved her  heart  would  have  ceased  to  beat  there  and 
then.  Everything  around  her  seemed  to  be  turning 
pitch-black,  and  the  horror  which  froze  her  breast  made 
itself  felt  even  to  the  tips  of  her  fingers.  Then  she 
held  her  breath  and  fancied  that  her  last  hour  had  come. 

But  she  very  soon  found  that  death  is  not  to  be  had 
for  the  mere  asking. 

And  surely  the  old  witch  must  have  put  something  in 
her  drink,  some  magic  charm  capable  of  producing  a 
complete  moral  transformation  ;  for  how  else  account 
for  the  evil  thoughts  which  now  suddenly  occurred  to  her 
as  she  sat  there  on  the  edge  of  the  bed,  thoughts  which, 
so  far  from  keeping  to  herself,  she  uttered  quite  loud  ? 
Was  she  speaking  to  the  old  hag  at  her  side  or  to  some 
invisible  being  ?  Heaven  only  knows,  but  there  she  sat 
gazing  steadily  before  her,  with  her  fingers  on  her  lips 
and  her  elbows  on  her  knees. 

"  What  then,  after  all,  is  the  use  of  all  the  wisdom  of 
the  learned,  of  all  the  precepts  of  the  saints?  Why 
cast  horoscopes,  why  consult  the  stars,  if  it  is  all  to  end  like 
this  ?  And  they  had  said  :  '  How  can  you,  a  clergyman's 
daughter,  give  your  hand  to  a  man  who  works  in  blood, 
for  he'll  be  bound  to  follow  his  father's  trade  ?  Will 
you  allow  your  whole  life  to  be  a  ceaseless  bloodshedding  ? 

89 


9°  PRETTY  MICHAL, 

i 

What !  every  day  to  rise  and  shed  blood,  and  every 
night  to  lie  down  with  blood  !  Every  day  to  trace  blood 
on  the  hands  of  him  who  embraces  you  !  To  be  bound 
for  life  to  a  man  whose  very  calling  it  is  to  lay  violent 
hands  on  God's  innocent  creatures ! '  Alas  !  alas ! 
Then  it  was  only  the  blood  of  sheep  and  oxen  that  was 
in  question.  And  now  !  What  avails  it,  then,  all  the 
wisdom  of  the  wise,  when  such  things  are  possible  ? 
What  if  the  little  automatic  dog  had  wagged  his  tail  and 
stuck  out  his  tongue  by  way  of  warning  ?  And  to  think 
that  a  living  wise  man  should  have  had  no  idea  of  the 
impending  ruin  of  a  human  soul,  and  that  soul  his  very 
daughter  !  What,  then,  is  the  use  of  amulets  and  talis- 
manic  necklaces  ?  What  is  the  good  of  the  angelic 
choirs  in  heaven  when  they  cannot  protect  the  faithful 
from  such  calamities  ?" 

"  Ha  !  ha !  ha  ! "  laughed  Barbara  Pirka,  "  there  are 
very  many  more  men  in  this  world,  my  jewel,  than  there 
are  angels  in  heaven.  It  is  not  everyone  that  has  a 
guardian  angel  to  look  after  him,  but  there  isn't  a  man 
in  this  world  who  hasn't  seven  devils  all  to  himself.  !,• 
too,  was  carried  off  from  my  father's  house  by  my  hus- 
band. He  told  me  he  was  a  tanner,  and  I,  silly  fool  ! 
did  not  inquire  what  sort  of  hides  he  tanned.  But  I 
made  him  pay  one  hundred-fold  for  that  one  deceit,  I 
warrant  you." 

Michal  stared  blankly  at  her.  She  did  not  under- 
stand a  word  of  what  Pirka  was  talking  about. 

Pirka  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"  My  ruby  !  won't  we  put  on  our  clothes  ?  " 

**  No  I "  cried  Michal,  defiantly,  and  throwing  herself 
back  in  the  bed.  "  Where  are  the  clothes  in  which  I 
came  hither  ?" 

"  They  are    still   very  wet    and    hanging   up   to    dry. 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  9^ 

They  are  tattered  and  torn,  too,  and  want  a  lot  of 
mending." 

"  I'll  wait  here  till  I  get  them." 

So  she  stayed  in  bed.  She  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  terrible  finery  which  had  belonged  to  the  un- 
happy Polish  lady. 

And  all  day  long  nobody  troubled  her.  Everyone 
in  the  house  had  something  to  do  in  town. 

Barbara  Pirka  brought  her  her  dinner  ;  but  the  hag 
had  no  sooner  taken  it  in  than  she  had  to  take  it  out 
again.     Michal  would  not  touch  a  morsel. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  the  men  came  home.  Michal 
again  heard  a  horrible  howling  and  yelping,  brawling 
voices  and  heavy  footsteps.  It  was  only  when  they 
passed  her  door  that  they  trod  softly.  Someone  stand- 
ing outside  whispered  to  them  : 

"  Pst  !  be  quiet !     The  lady  keeps  her  bed  !  " 

"  If  she  keeps  her  bed,  she  must  be  ill  !  "  so  thought 
they  all. 

When  it  was  dark,  Barbara  Pirka  came  down  again  and 
lit  the  lamp  in  Michal's  room. 

How  happy  the  evening  hours  had  been  to  Michal  at 
home,  when  she  could  go  to  her  book-shelves  and  take 
down  her  learned  folios.     Then  she  had  never  felt  alone. 

But  here  there  were  not  even  books  ! 

The  night  was  far  advanced.  Every  living  thing  had 
long  ago  gone  to  sleep.  Cautious  footsteps  approached 
the  chamber  where  Michal  lay. 

The  door  opened  and  Henry  entered. 

He  wore  a  gold-embroidered  doublet  buckled  round 
with  a  stately  girdle  ;  his  sleeves  were  trimmed  with  gold 
lace  right  up  to  the  elbows.  His  large,  tight-fitting  jack- 
boots were  of  yellow  buckskin,  and  they  too  were  richly 


92  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

embroidered  with  lace.  No  bride  could  have  wished  for 
a  more  handsomely  equipped  bridegroom.  But  he  had 
no  sooner  entered  the  room  than  Michal  sprang  from 
her  bed,  and  wrapping  herself  in  the  bearskin,  shrieked 
in  a  voice  hoarse  with  rage  : 

"  How  dare  you  come  in  hither  ?  This  is  the  bedroom 
of  my  husband,  the  pastor  of  Great  Leta  !  None  else 
has  any  business  here  at  all  !  " 

The  witch's  potion  must  certainly  have  changed 
Michal's  very  nature,  for  language  such  as  this  was  the 
last  thing  to  be  expected  from  so  meek  and  gentle  a 
creature  in  the  hour  of  her  terrible  dereliction. 

And  some  mighty  spell  really  was  at  work,  for  that  big, 
strong  man,  who  could  have  brought  the  weak  creature 
before  him  to  her  knees  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  was 
so  frightened  by  Michal's  repellent  gesture,  so  timidly 
apprehensive  of  her  furiously  flashing  eyes,  that  he  could 
not  utter  a  word,  but  slunk  out  of  the  chamber  like  a 
whipped  cur. 

Some  person  who  had  been  eavesdropping  outside  all 
the  time  giggled  aloud,  and  then  was  heard  the  voice  of 
a  man  blaspheming  the  name  of  God,  and  gnashing  his 
teeth  with  rage. 

Surely  that  was  not  the  parson  of  Great  Leta  ? 

Certainly  not.  But  what  has  become  of  him  ?  Well, 
after  the  work  of  yesterday  night  and  to-day,  the  doors 
of  every  church  are  shut  against  Henry  Catsrider,  and 
the  steps  leading  to  every  pulpit  are  broken  down  as  far 
as  he  is  concerned. 

The  old  vihodar  had  taken  very  good  care  that  his  son 
should  never  be  a  clergyman  again. 

And  Michal  remained  alone  with  her  phantoms. 

She  thought  upon  the  vanished  days  of  her  maiden- 
hood ;  of  the  innocent  joys  amidst  which  her  days  had 


PRETTY  MTCHAL.  93 

glided  so  sweetly  away  ;  of  the  studies,  which  had  always 
been  a  source  of  delight  to  her. 

Whither  had  vanished  all  those  joys  and  all  those 
studies  ?  What  availed  her  now  the  books  of  all  those 
learned  men  ?  What  to  her  now  was  moral  philosophy, 
horticulture,  or  domestic  economy  ?  Here  there  was  no 
morality,  no  garden,  no  home  !  Her  life  at  home  had 
been  a  monastic  life,  but  it  was  a  veritable  heaven  com- 
pared with  this  hell. 

But  when  she  fell  a-thinking  how  happy  she  might 
have  been  if  she  had  given  her  hand  to  him  whom  her 
heart  had  chosen — who  was  not  perhaps  very  learned, 
but  certainly  upright,  honest,  good-hearted,  and  over  head 
and  ears  in  love — then  indeed  evil  thoughts  began  to  arise 
within  her. 

When  the  moon  shone  through  the  iron  bars  of  her 
window  she  could  not  help  thinking  what  a  nice  time  the 
witches  must  have  of  it ;  they  had  only  to  bestride  their 
broomsticks  and  scud  through  the  air,  even  narrow  iron 
bars  could  not  stop  them. 

What  if  her  forsaken  sweetheart  were  thinking  of  her 
now  ?  Would  he  ever  learn  into  what  depths  of  misery 
the  mistress  of  his  heart  had  fallen  ? 

While  she  was  thinking  of  these  things,  and  drying  her 
streaming  eyes,  she  suddenly  heard  in  the  court  below  the 
tune  of  one  her  favorite  songs,  which  ran  thus  : 

The  cloud  wherein  the  crow  doth  stay, 
The  dark  black  cloud  will  pass  away  ! 

Someone  was  playing  this  air  on  a  Hungarian  field- 
trumpet. 

This  instrument  is  called  the  farogato,  and  very  few 
know  how  to  play  it.  It  is  certainly  a  difficult  instrument. 
Let  anyone  but  a  connoisseur  attempt  to  blow  it,  and  he 


94  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

will  bring  forth  a  sound  not  at  all  unlike  the  howl  of  a 
dog  on  whose  tail  s'omeone  has  trodden.  But  he  who 
really  knows  the  secret  of  the  field-trumpet  can  play 
thereon  every  imaginable  air,  in  tones  which  will  go  to 
one's  very  heart.  You'll  find  yourself  weeping  without 
exactly  knowing  why.  The  good  old  songs,  as  they  come 
forth  from  the  instrument,  recall  to  you  the  lullaby  which 
your  mother  used  to  sing  at  your  cradle,  and  the  hymn 
which  was  sung  at  your  father's  burial.  It  does  you 
good  and  makes  you  sad  at  the  same  time.  But  when  a 
real  connoisseur  takes  up  the  farogato  and  blows  into  it 
with  all  his  might,  then  indeed  he  brings  forth  notes 
which  excite  the  martial  sentiments  of  every  hearer,  notes 
which  can  be  heard  for  two  miles  round.  It  sounds  just 
as  if  a  host  were  marching  forth  to  battle  and  to  victory. 

It  was  this  instrument  which,  thirty  years  later,  inspired 
the  rebel  troops  of  Rakoczy  in  the  campaigns.  After 
the  insurrection  was  over,  therefore,  the  peace-abiding 
government  collected  together  all  the  farogatos  in  the 
land  and  destroyed  them,  just  as  if  they  had  been  so 
many  double-mortars.  Only  a  single  specimen  still 
remains,  which  is  exhibited  as  a  great  curiosity  in  the 
Royal  Museum  at  Buda-Pest,  and  only  a  single  man  in 
the  whole  land  knows  how  to  play  it. 

We  have  said  this  much  about  the  farogato  in  order  to 
give  some  idea  of  the  great  joy  which  arose  in  Michal's 
heart,  when  she  suddenly  heard  it  playing  her  favorite 
song. 

Her  father  had  often  spoken  to  her  about  an  out-at- 
elbow  vagrant  student,  whom  the  scholars  derisively 
nicknamed  Simplex,  and  who  had  wrought  much  mischief 
there  with  his  music  by  enticing  the  sons  of  the  Muses 
away  from  their  studies  thereby.  Kalondai,  in  particu- 
lar, had  to  thank  this  fellow  for  the  corruption  of  his 


*  PRETTY  MICHAL.  95 

morals,  in  fact  they  were  hand  and  glove.  Besides  that, 
Simplex  was  a  low  fellow,  who  had  not  been  ashamed  to 
serve  a  twelve  months'  apprenticeship  with  the  civic  trum- 
peter of  Zeb,  and  since  then  had  spent  all  his  time  in 
gadding  about  the  country  as  an  itinerant  musician,  earn- 
ing a  penny  here  and  a  penny  there  at  wedding  feasts 
and  such  like  riotous  entertainments.  All  this  the 
learned  professor  had  told  his  daughter  in  high  dudgeon  ; 
but  what  a  comfort  it  was  to  her  that  she  knew  it  now. 
From  the  fact  that  she  heard  all  her  favorite  songs 
played  one  after  the  other  in  the  courtyard  below,  she 
drew  the  following  conclusion  :  If  Simplex  has  come 
hither,  it  is  only  because  Kalondai  sent  him.  If  he  is 
staying  here,  it  is  certainly  only  because  he  wants  to 
find  out  something  about  me.  When  he  discovers  what 
my  position  is,  he  will  return  to  his  bosom  friend  and 
tell  him  everything. 

And  the  thought  consoled  her. 

For  hours  and  hours  she  listened  in  the  beautiful 
moonlight  to  the  well-known  melancholy  strains,  which 
her  serving-maids  used  to  sing  when  they  heard  the 
field -trumpet's  blare  outside.  She,  too,  had  now  and 
again  hummed  "  The  Hunter's  Song,"  or  "  The  Polish 
Lay  of  the  Three  Hundred  Widows,"  with  its  ghostly 
finale  supposed  to  represent  the  Dance  of  Death. 

Simplex  played  these  airs  very  prettily.  Michal  could 
have  listened  to  him  all  night. 

Early  in  the  morning  Pirka  appeared,  and  brought 
her  the  wine  posset  spiced  with  cloves,  cinnamon,  and 
muscat-nut. 

While  she  was  sipping  it,  Michal  angrily  asked  :  "  Who 
is  that  tiresome  man  who  keeps  on  blowing  his  trumpet 
all  night  in  the  courtyard  below  ?" 


9^  PRETTY  MIC  HAL. 

She  was  already  learning  to  be  sly.  It  is  ever  so  with 
women.  Treat  them  with  tenderness  and  affection,  and 
they  are  as  gentle  as  doves  and  speak  straight  out  what 
they  think.  But  just  bully,  offend,  or  persecute  them, 
and  they  become  as  crafty  as  serpents.  No  one  teaches 
them  deceit,  and  yet  they  are  masters  in  it.  Then  they 
think  before  they  speak,  and  their  tongues  say  one  thing 
and  their  hearts  another. 

So  that  was  why  Michal  complained  so  angrily  about 
that  tiresome  man.  She  knew  by  instinct  that  the  best 
way  to  keep  him  in  the  house  was  to  complain  of  him. 

"  Oh,  my  darling  !  "  said  Barbara  Pirka,  "  don't  say 
that !  He  is  my  trumpeter,  quite  a  superior  young  man, 
I  assure  you." 

"  And  pray  when  will  he  take  himself  off  and  let  people 
sleep  o'  nights  ?"  she  asked  with  dissembled  bitterness. 

"  He  is  not  so  easily  got  rid  of,  darling  !  If  you  were 
to  chuck  him  ou':  of  doors  with  a  pitchfork  he  would 
come  in  again  through  the  window.  He  enjoys  himself 
amazingly  with  the  lads  !  Would  you  believe  it,  they 
got  up  a  fine  d:.nce  last  night  !  There  was  no  lack  of 
partners  eit^  nr,  for  each  of  the  lads  brought  in  a  large 
watch-dog,  made  it  stand  on  its  hind-legs,  and  danced 
with  it  that  way.  I.  you  had  been  there  you'd  have 
split  your  sides  for  laughing.  Last  of  all,  everyone 
made  his  partner  kiss  the  musician.     Ha  !  ha  !  ha  !  " 

"The  beast  ! "  cried  Michal,  wiping  her  mouth  in  dis- 
gust. "  And  why  then  does  he  not  run  away  from  a 
place  where  they  treat  him  so  vilely  ?  " 

'*  I'll  tell  you,  my  dear  little  squirrel  !  'tis  because  he 
is  desperately  in  love  with  me." 

Then  Michal  thouo-ht  how  great  must  be  the  friend- 
ship of  these  two  men,  when  one  of  them  is  willing  to 
live  as  a  guest  in  the  headsman's  house,  make  sport  for 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  97 

the  headsman's  henchmen,  endure  their  brutal  jests,  nay, 
even  make  love  to  this  domestic  witch,  simply  to  bring 
his  friend  tidings  of  the  woman  who  has  been  the  cause 
of  all  his  misery  ! 

All  that  day  Barbara  Pirka  did  not  bring  Michal  the 
clothes  in  which  she  had  come,  nor  did  Michal  again  put 
on  the  fine  dress  which  had  been  given  to  her.  She  pre- 
ferred to  feign  illness  and  lie  in  bed. 

But  Henry  dared  not  show  his  face  to  her  all  that  day. 

Neither  on  that  nor  yet  on  the  following  day  did  he  ap- 
pear before  her.     He  was  waiting  till  Michal  got  up. 

She,  however,  would  take  nothing  but  broth,  so  that 
she  might  say  she  was  ill  and  not  be  obliged  to  get  up. 

And  night  after  night  she  listened  at  the  window  to 
the  farogato,  and  it  sometimes  seemed  to  her  as  if 
someone  was  urging  the  musician  to  play  with  all  his 
might. 

Meanwhile  Henry  steadily  plied  his  trade.  The  better 
to  inure  him  to  it,  he  was  never  allowed  to  be  sober  for 
a  moment.  They  gave  him  heavy  beer  to  drink  which 
muddled  his  head.  They  gave  him  garlic  to  eat,  and  the 
very  consciousness  that  he  has  eaten  garlic  is  sufficient 
to  make  a  man  regard  himself  as  the  enemy  of  all  refine- 
ment. The  coarse  jests  which  he  heard  from  his  father's 
henchmen,  familiarity  with  dirt  and  filth,  the  drunken 
orgies  into  which  he  was  plunged,  so  brutalized  him  that 
at  last  he  absolutely  did  not  know  how  to  approach  such 
a  tenderly  nurtured  creature  as  Michal  in  a  propitiatory 
manner.  So  he  learnt  to  sing  filthy  songs  instead,  and 
vied  with  the  headsman's  lads  themselves  in  cursing  and 
swearing. 

If  the  reverend  professor  could  have  seen  his  son-in- 
law  now  he  would   have  fancied  that  this  was  an  homun- 


98  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

cuius  whom  some  alchemist  had  inflated  with  another 
and  an  inferior  soul. 

That  his  wife  had  driven  him  out  of  her  bedchamber 
Was  not  regarded  as  anything  extraordinary.  In  these 
days  the  women  of  Zeb  were  so  shamefaced  and  coy 
that  it  was  considered  by  no  means  proper  for  young 
married  people  to  begin  billing  and  cooing  while  the 
honeymoon  was  yet  young.  Nay,  it  was  even  requisite 
that  the  husband  when  he  stole  the  first  kiss  from  his 
bride  should  bear  away  the  marks  of  her  ten  nails  in  his 
face,  just  as  if  he  had  been  engaged  in  taming  a  wild 
panther  ;  while  a  woman  who  at  the  beginning  of  the 
honeymoon  was  able  to  pitch  her  husband  twice  out  of 
the  bridal-chamber  could  reckon  upon  reaping  a  whole 
harvest  of  praise. 

It  was  consequently  nothing  unusual  if  a  modest  young 
spouse,  with  a  good  opinion  of  herself,  abstained  from 
eating  during  the  first  few  days  of  her  honeymoon,  or 
even  made  as  though  she  had  been  struck  dumb.  It 
showed  that  she  had  been  piously  brought  up,  that  was 
all.  It  was  only  when  this  self-imposed  abstinence  lasted 
long  enough  to  endanger  the  lady's  life  that  third  parties 
stepped  in  and  put  a  stop  to  it. 

So  Michal  had  her  own  way  entirely,  neither  getting 
up,  nor  dressing,  nor  speaking,  nor  taking  any  nourish- 
ment to  speak  of. 

But  on  Friday,  when  Pirka  came  in  to  see  her,  Michal 
sneezed  violently.  Now  when  anybody  sneezes  on  Friday 
It  signifies  that  his  enemies  will  triumph  over  him.  So, 
at  least,  Pirka  interpreted  it. 

Then  she  observed  that  the  iron  window  shutters  had 
been  left  open  all  night,  and  she  scolded  Michal  for  it. 

'*  It  is  not  good,"  she  said,  "  to  sleep  in  moonlight,  for 
it  draws  all  the  strength  out  of  one's  heart." 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  99 

Then  she  whispered  to  Michal  that  to-day  the  young 
master  was  going  to  accomplish  his  masterpiece.  What 
that  masterpiece  was,  Michal  had  httle  difficulty  in 
guessing. 

On  such  occasions,  to  each  of  the  headsman's  assistants 
is  given  a  flask  of  brandy  wherewith  to  strengthen  his 
heart.  The  master  himself  partakes  of  brandy  mingled 
with  hartshorn  and  sunflower  dew,  which  (we  have  it  on 
the  authority  of  Arnoldus  de  Villanova)  is  such  an  effica- 
cious cordial  that  so  long  as  a  man  drinks  thereof  he  will 
probably  never  die. 

It  chanced,  moreover,  that  on  this  very  day  Henry 
was  bitten  by  a  strange  dog,  and  as  there  was  no  know- 
ing whether  the  beast  might  not  be  mad  they  made  young 
Catsrider  swallow  a  large  pili  of  very  pungent  spices  as 
an  antidote  ;  and  no  doubt  this  too  had  an  inflammatory 
effect  upon  his  blood. 

Add  to  this  that  the  old  master  on  this  particular  even- 
ing gave  a  great  feast  to  all  his  apprentices,  at  which  they 
first  drank  heavy  old  beer  and  then  strong  red  wine.  The 
apprentices  on  this  occasion  mocked  Henry  unmercifully, 
and  called  him  a  milksop,  fit  only  to  be  stuck  up  in  a 
corner  and  beaten  with  a  spindle  by  his  wife.  The  wine 
mounted  to  his  head,  and  the  blood  and  the  gibes  did 
the  rest.  The  feast  was  no  sooner  over  than  Henry  went 
straight  to  the  door  of  Michal's  chamber,  set  his  shoulders 
against  it,  and  tore  it  off  its  hinges. 

Next  morning,  pretty  Michal  had  a  blue  mark  under 
one  eye  and  a  wheal  on  her  forehead,  and  the  precious 
amulet,  the  amulet  she  had  received  from  her  father  as  a 
bridal  gift,  was  no  longer  round  her  neck. 

"What's  the  good  of  you,"  cried  she,  addressing  the 
amulet,  "  if  you  cannot  defend  me  ?     How  can  you  save 


TOO  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

me  from  the  Black  Death  when  you  cannot  save  me  from 
the  hand  of  man  ?  " 

Then  she  took  the  dove  which  she  had  brought  with 
her  from  home,  and  said  to  it : 

"  It  is  all  your  fault  !  Why  was  my  heart  so  soft  on 
your  account,  why  had  I  not  the  courage  to  kill  you  there 
and  then  ?  If  I  had  wrung  your  neck,  plucked  your 
feathers,  stuck  you  on  a  spit  and  carved  you,  I  should 
not  be  here  now  !  Fly  home  !  Take  back  the  amulet  ! 
I'll  tie  it  round  your  neck.  Take  it  to  my  father  !  May 
the  amulet  defend  you  on  the  way  from  vultures  and 
hawks,  may  it  preserve  my  father  from  ever  feeling  such 
heavy  woe  as  I  am  feeling  here." 

With  that,  she  took  the  amulet  and  fastened  it  beneath 
the  dove's  wings  with  the  ribbon,  in  such  a  way  as  to  show 
that  it  had  not  been  unloosed  but  torn  from  her  neck. 
Then  she  opened  the  window  and  let  the  dove  go. 

The  dove  cooed,  flew  into  the  air,  and  Michal  saw  it  no 
more. 

And  pray  what  became  of  the  dove  ?  Only  this.  On 
the  same  day  it  came  home  to  Keszmar  and  tapped  at 
the  window,  while  the  great  scholar  sat  poring  over  his 
folios.  The  learned  Professor  Frohlich,  much  amazed, 
admitted  the  winged  messenger  through  the  casement, 
and  still  greater  grew  his  astonishment  when  he  perceived 
beneath  her  wings  the  precious  amulet,  tied  by  a  ribbon 
which  had  evidently  been  violently  torn.  Being  a  very 
great  and  learned  mathematician,  he  naturally  concluded 
therefrom  that  some  great  evil  must  have  befallen  his 
daughter  ;  whereupon,  without  thinking  of  consulting  the 
heavenly  bodies  as  to  whether  this  was  a  lucky  day  for 
traveling,  without  waiting  for  a  caravan  to  pass  by  that 
way  raid  pick  him  up,  he  took  hi<}  hat  and  stick  and  went 
off  at  once  and  alone  to  seek  his  daughter. 


PRETTY  MICIIAL.  lOI 

He  made  straight  for  Great  Leta,  now  going  on  foot, 
now  sitting  on  a  wagon,  now  riding  on  an  ass,  accord- 
ing as  opportunity  offered.  Tlie  young  married  couple 
must  certainly  be  at  Great  Leta,  thought  he. 

But  at  Great  Leta  the  late  pastor's  widow  received  him 
with  great  lamentations.  She  had  not  set  eyes  on  the 
young  people.  It  was  wrong,  very  wrong  of  them  not  to 
come,  for  all  the  new-born  children  in  the  place  were 
being  taken  to  the  next  parish  to  be  christened  ;  and  still 
more  scandalous,  during  the  Leutschau  fair  last  week, 
Protestant  malefactors  had  to  be  accompanied  to  the 
scaffold  by  a  Papist  priest.  Such  things  were  no  less 
than  flagrant  infringements  of  the  Council  of  Linz,  and 
had  lost  the  parish  four  Kremnitz  ducats. 

Thence  the  learned  gentleman  proceeded  to  Zeb,  where 
he  inquired  after  Henry's  father,  old  Catsrider, 

No  one  had  ever  heard  such  a  name  at  Zeb.  The 
father  and  grandfather  of  Henry  had  always  been  called 
the  vihodar,  and  that  was  all.  Not  even  in  the  civic  ac- 
counts was  the  name  of  Catsrider  to  be  found.  So  they 
laughed  the  old  man  out  of  countenance  with  his  Cats- 
riders.  They  told  him  that  people  were  making  an  x\pril 
fool  of  him.  But  for  all  that  he  would  not  budge,  but 
actually  made  a  house  to  house  visitation  through  the 
town  of  Zeb,  to  find  out  what  had  become  of  his  son-in- 
law  and  his  daughter. 

Yet  for  all  his  learning  and  wisdom  it  never  once  oc- 
curred to  him  to  visit  the  solitary  house  which  stood  with- 
out the  city  walls. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Consists  of  a  very  few  words  which  are,  however,  of  all  the  more 

consequence. 

AVhen  Barbara  Pirka  visited  the  young  woman  next 
morning,  she  was  greatly  astonished  to  find  her  quite 
dressed.  Michal  had  on  the  beautiful  cornflower-blue 
silk  dress  of  the  beheaded  Polish  countess. 

She  drove  out  the  housekeeper  with  her  morning 
broth. 

"  Bring  me  broiled  flesh  and  red  wine,"  she  cried,  im- 
periously. 

So  she  couid  speak  and  eat  again  at  last  ! 

When  Barbara  Pirka  returned  with  the  cold  meat, 
flavored  with  garlic,  and  a  flask  of  wine,  Michal  sat  down 
at  the  table  and  took  a  long  draught,  and  then  she  ate, 
and  then  she  drank  again. 

"  Fill  up  !  "  she  cried  to  the  housekeeper. 

After  she  had  eaten  and  drank  her  fill,  she  turned  to 
Barbara  Pirka  and  said  : 

"  What  ought  a  wife  to  do  who  hates  her  husband .?" 

<'  Leave  that  to  me,  I  understand  a  little  about  it." 

Then  Michal  asked  a  second  question  : 

"  What  ought  a  wife  to  do  who  loves  another?" 

"  Leave  that  to  me  also,  I  understand  a  good  deal 
about  it." 

'•  And  what  ought  a  woman  to  do  who  no  longer  be- 
lieves in  Heaven  ?  "  asked  Michal  for  the  third  time. 

"  I'll  tell  you,  my  little  squirrel,  for  no  one  knows 
more  about  that  than  1  do." 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

tVherein  the  knavish  practices  of  the  evil  witch  are  only  insinuated, 
but  not  yet  fully  divulged. 

First  of  all,  Barbara  Pirka  brought  on  a  platter  a 
specific  whereby  the  blue  marks  caused  by  blows  can  be 
made  to  vanish  in  no  time.  It  consists  of  the  piece  of 
cornflower  roots  plucked  on  the  morning  of  Corpus 
Christi  Day  by  a  left-handed  person  with  his  back  to 
the  sun,  and  the  juice  of  the  cardamom  plucked  on 
Maundy  Thursday,  and  mixed  with  the  honey  of  the 
queen  bee.  With  this  balsam  she  rubbed  Michal's 
bruises,  who  felt  all  the  better  for  it.  Then  Barbara 
praised  Michal  greatly,  and  said  that  Master  Henry 
would  also  make  a  fine  show  with  the  scratches  he  had 
received  from  her. 

And  now  she  proceeded  to  answer  Michal's  first  ques- 
tion. 

"  So  you  want  to  know,  my  little  poppet,  what  a  wife 
should  do  who  does  not  love  her  husband  ?  She  ought 
to  pretend  she  loves  him  very  much  ;  for  jealousy  is  like 
a  savage  dog — when  he's  hungry  he's  wakeful,  but  when 
he  has  his  bellyful  he  goes  to  sleep.  A  wife  who  does 
not  love  her  husband  ought  always  to  take  care  that  he 
neither  hears  nor  sees  anything.  And  there  grows  no 
wonder-working  herb  in  all  the  mountains  around  which 
can  make  a  man  half  so  blind  or  deaf  as  when  his  wife 
kisses  him  on  the  eyes,  and  whispers  in  his  ear,  '  My 
darling  !  '  A  scold  is  always  carrying  her  husband  about 
on  her  back,  but  a  good-humored  wife  is  always  sitting 

103 


I04  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

on  her  husband's  jacket,  and  he  must  carry  her  about 
wherever  she  likes.  A  pretty  woman  needs  no  bridle  to 
make  a  horse  of  a  bearded  man  like  we  witches  do.  She 
needs  only  a  silken  thread,  the  silken  thread  of  her 
wheedling  voice.  The  hand  with  which  a  pretty  woman 
strokes  her  husband's  cheek  is  a  real  gold  mine,  far  more 
productive  than  the  gold  mines  of  Kremnitz.  But  a 
woman  who  wants  an  answer  to  the  second  question 
must  have  money.  Yes  ;  and  I  can  give  an  answer  to 
the  third  question  also.  So  sure  as  I'm  Barbara  Pirka 
and  the  leader  of  the  witches,  I'll  bring  your  sweetheart 
to  you,  my  pretty  little  violet  !  I'll  not  so  much  as  ask 
you  It  is  name  nor  where  he  dwells,  whether  it  be  far  or 
near.  All  I've  got  to  do  is  to  send  my  little  buck-goat 
in  quest  of  him,  and  my  little  buck-goat  will  carry  him 
whithersoever  you  like,  if  only  you'll  follow  my  advice 
in  all  things." 

The  witch's  influence  over  the  poor  weak  girl  was 
already  so  strong  that  she  followed  her  advice  implicitly. 
When  she  met  her  husband  at  supper  time,  she  was  not 
ashamed  to  embrace  and  caress  him,  although  others 
were  looking  on  ;  nay,  she  even  allowed  him  to  take  her 
on  his  lap  and  tenderly  kiss  the  blue  marks  on  her  face, 
which  blows  not  given  in  wrath  had  left  behind  them. 
It  is  true  there  was  nothing  blameworthy  in  all  this  fond- 
ling. Were  they  not  man  and  wife  ?  But  we  know  that 
it  was  all  deceit  on  the  wife's  part,  for  she  loathed  from 
the  bottom  of  her  heart  the  man  who,  under  the  lying 
pretense  of  making  her  a  parson's  wife,  had  torn  her 
away  from  the  darling  of  her  heart,  tied  her  to  a  com- 
mon hangman,  buried  her  alive,  and  made  it  impossible 
for  her  ever  to  show  her  face  in  respectable  society 
again.  But  she  followed  the  evil  counsel  of  Barbara 
Pirka  so  well  that  she  flattered  and  fondled  her  husband 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  1 05 

to  the  top  of  his  bent,  although  he  no  longer  wore  the 
splendid  scarlet  doublet  of  yesterday,  but  only  a  day- 
laborer's  common  linen  blouse.  In  his  joy  he  unfastened 
his  leather  girdle  and  shook  out  the  two  hundred  gold 
pieces  into  her  lap. 

"  That  is  your  nuptial  gift,"  said  he. 

Let  no  one  maintain  after  this  that  a  hangman  can't 
behave  handsomely  ! 

Next  morning  Michal  requested  Barbara  Pirka  to  give 
her  an  answer  to  her  second  question,  viz.,  What  a 
woman  must  do  who  loves  another  than  her  husband  ? 

*'  Alas,  pet !  that  is  not  a  very  easy  question  to  answer. 
The  loves  must  first  be  looked  up.  Only  ray  little  buck- 
goat  can  find  him,  and  he  cannot  set  out  until  he  has 
been  shod  with  golden  shoes." 

]\Iichal  put  her  hand  into  her  pocket,  and  took  out 
four  gold  pieces.  These  she  handed  to  the  witch,  at  the 
same  time  jingling  her  pockets  to  show  that  there  were 
many  more  gold  pieces  where  those  came  from. 

The  witch  laughed. 

"  What,  my  little  gold  cockchafer  !  don't  you  know 
then  that  goats  have  divided  hoofs?  My  little  buck- 
goat,  therefore,  requires  not  four  but  eight  little  shoes 
for  his  feet." 

Michal  immediately  gave  her  four  more  gold  pieces. 

"  And  now,  my  dear  little  froggy  !  you  will  see  that 
the  black  buck-goat  will  bring  you  your  sweetheart,  only 
we  must  wait  till  the  old  and  the  young  master  are  well 
out  of  the  way,  which  will  certainly  happen  when  the 
Eperies  annual  fair  begins." 

Michal  believed  everything  the  witch  told  her. 

What  else  could  she  have  done  ?  All  her  former  faith 
had  been  destroyed.  She  believed  in  nothing  more. 
The  v.isdom  of  her  father,  the  amulet  of  her  mother,  had 


lo6  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

become  utterly  worthless  in  her  eyes.  She  had  been 
deceived,  humbled,  imprisoned,  mocked,  tormented,  she 
who  had  never  hurt  a  living  thing,  she  who  had  always 
been  so  good  ! 

"Well,"  thought  she,  "now  I'll  be  wicked,  perhaps 
that  will  bear  better  fruit." 

But  Barbara  Pirka  immediately  gave  Simplex  four  of 
the  eight  gold  pieces,  the  rest  she  kept  for  herself,  and 
from  that  day  forth  Michal  no  longer  heard  the  songs  of 
the  field-trumpet  sounding  in  the  courtyard. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Which  goes  to  prove  that  the  society  of  great  folks  is  not  always  3 

thing  to  be  desired. 

The  reason  why  pretty,  unhappy  Michal  no  longei 
heard  the  field-trumpet  in  the  courtyard  was  because 
Pirka  had  already  sent  off  Simplex  to  seek  the  beloved  of 
Michal's  heart ;  for  the  old  witch  had  already  discovered 
that  this  beloved  was  Simplex's  bosom  friend — but  that 
was  all.  For  the  trumpeter,  like  the  prudent  German 
he  was  (an  Hungarian,  who  always  carries  his  heart  on 
his  sleeve,  would  have  blabbed  out  everything  straight 
off),  did  indeed  let  her  know  that  Michal  had  been  mar- 
ried against  her  will  ;  but  he  shrewdly  mentioned  no 
names,  and  put  her  off  with  a  few  lines  when  she  pressed 
him  too  closely.  Let  her  find  out  the  truth  for  herself ! 
What  else  was  she  a  witch  for } 

But  wicked  Pirka  knew  quite  enough  already  to  ruin 
the  poor  innocent  creature  altogether.  For  'tis  not  so 
much  because  they  themselves  are  already  sold  to  Beel- 
zebub that  such  hags  lay  traps  for  young  ladies,  but  be- 
cause they  well  know  that  they  may  fleece  to  their  heart's 
content,  all  whom  they  have  once  got  into  their  clutches. 

So  she  gave  four  of  her  eight  ducats  to  Simplex  to  buy 
him  food  on  his  journey,  and  told  him  which  was  the  best 
way  to  take,  for  the  trumpeter  had  told  her  this  much, 
that  Michal's  sweetheart  lived  in  Transylvania. 

Simplex  was  a  good,  honest  fellow,  and  he  had  fre- 
quented the  schools  long  enough  to  know  that  the  Con- 
sistory would  probably  quash  a  union  which  had  been 

107 


io8  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

fraudulently  contracted  ;  and  in  the  present  case  the  fraud 
was  patent  to  everyone,  for  the  wooer  who  had  introduced 
himself  as  a  clergyman  turned  out  to  be  a  common  hang- 
man. Simplex  meant  to  inform  his  bosom  friend  at  once, 
when  Valentine  might,  if  he  liked,  take  steps  to  annul  the 
marriage  and  make  the  lady  his  own  lawful  wife  in  the 
proper  way. 

And  no  doubt  it  was  just  because  Simplex  was  thus 
following  the  path  of  truth  and  justice  that  he  was  so 
wondrously  delivered  from  the  extraordinary  dangers 
which  befell  him  on  the  way — dangers  from  which,  per- 
haps, he  would  never  have  escaped  at  all  if  he  had  simply 
set  out  with  the  evil  intention  of  discovering  Michal's 
sweetheart,  as  the  witch  had  supposed  when  she  sent  him 

off. 

So  he  shouldered  his  trumpet,  and  had  scarcely  pro- 
ceeded  more  than  an  hour's  journey  through  a  deep 
valley,  known  as  the  Wolf's  Dale,  which  lies  between 
rocks  so  steep  and  narrow  that  it  is  as  much  as  two 
mules  can  do  to  pass  each  other  therein,  when  two  wild 
shapes  suddenly  pounced  out  upon  him  from  an  ambush, 
and  whirling  their  axes  over  their  heads,  dictatorially 
cried  : 

"  Halt !  " 

The  honest  trumpeter  could  not  possibly  be  expected 
to  know  who  these  people  were,  for  at  that  time  the 
militia  used  to  dress  exactly  like  robbers  so  as  to  be  better 
able  to  capture  those  gentry.  They  wore  sheepskin  caps 
on  their  heads  ;  their  shirts,  which  had  first  been  soaked 
through  with  grease  and  then  smoked  dry  in  a  chimney, 
were  as  black  as  ink  ;  belts  bristling  with  knives  girded 
their  loins  ;  they  were  shod  with  bast  shoes,  and  in  their 
hands  they  carried  muskets  and  long-handled  axes. 

The  waylayers  told  the  trumpeter  to  wait  till   their 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  109 

comrades  came  up  and  decided  what  was  to  be  done 
with  him  ;  if  he  uttered  a  syllable  in  the  meantime,  he 
would  immediately  be  cut  to  pieces.  Then  they  whistled, 
and  down  from  the  rocks  sprang  four  similar  wild 
figures,  who  took  the  trumpeter  into  custody  and  haled 
him  along  with  them. 

They  forced  him  to  crawl  up  the  steep  sides  of  the 
narrow  rocky  gorge,  by  means  of  holes  hewn  therein  at 
regular  intervals,  and  serving  as  footholds  and  resting- 
places  to  venturesome  climbers.  It  was  just  like  mount- 
ing a  chimney.  Here  and  there  still  larger  holes  gaped 
forth  from  the  rocky  walls,  from  the  depths  of  which  a 
frightful  growling  resounded.  But  Simplex's  companions 
bade  him  fear  nothing.  These  were  only  bears'  dens,  they 
said.  Mother  Bruin  was  too  much  engaged  at  this  season 
in  suckling  her  young  to  bestow  much  attention  on 
those  who  did  not  wantonly  attack  her.  Yet  Simplex, 
for  all  that,  had  not  the  slightest  wish  to  make  the  ac- 
quaintance of  a  monster  which  is,  perhaps,  a  still  more 
dreadful  enemy  than  even  a  robber.  He  knew  the  habits 
of  the  terrible  beast,  which,  when  it  meets  a  man  on  a 
narrow  path,  rises  on  its  hind  legs  and  crushes  him  to 
deatl  in  its  embrace. 

On  reaching  the  top  of  this  perilous  ladder.  Simplex 
saw  before  him  a  spacious  plateau  surrounded  by  steep 
rocks.     This  was  the  robbers'  lair. 

Huge  pine-trees  stretched  down  their  branches  from 
the  rocks,  thus  forming  a  sort  of  natural  canopy  over  the 
valley.  Out  of  the  cleft  of  a  granite  rock  gurgled  a  merry 
little  brook,  half  dammed  up  by  two  huge  jagged  stones. 
The  object  of  this  dam  Simplex  learned  later  on. 

The  first  glance  at  the  spectacle  now  before  him  made 
his  eyes  twinkle.  This  natural  chamber  was  occupied  by 
more  than  a  hundred  robbers.     Most  of  them  were  sit- 


no  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

ting  round  a  caldron,  which  hung  simmering  over  a  large 
fire,  on  a  iron  tripod.  One  of  the  robbers  served  as  cook, 
another  as  scullion.  The  former  was  cutting  up  a  sheep, 
with  which  he  filled  the  caldron,  while  the  latter  stirred 
the  mess  round  and  round,  adding  milk  instead  of  water 
and  frequent  handfuls  of  saffron,  cinnamon,  and  cloves. 
Truly  a  bandits'  banquet !  Others  were  squatting  on  bar- 
rels and  playing  dice.  All  of  them  spoke  very  low.  No 
one  attempted  to  attack  the  caldron  beforehand,  or  stave 
in  one  of  the  many  casks  of  wine,  beer,  and  brandy  lying 
about  the  place.  The  discipline  among  them  was  per- 
fect. 

In  the  midst  of  the  rocky  place,  bales  of  goods  were 
piled  one  on  top  of  the  other,  just  as  they  are  exhibited 
for  sale  at  fairs  and  in  market-places.  Aloft  on  this  cost- 
ly throne  sat  the  three  robber  chieftains. 

They  were  dressed  precisely  like  their  comrades,  yet 
each  had  his  distinguishing  marks,  so  that  Simplex,  who 
had  often  heard  them  described  by  the  country  people, 
was  able  to  identify  them  at  a  glance. 

The  first  of  the  robber  chieftains  was  Hafran,  whose 
love  of  pomp  was  notorious.  His  girdle  had  a  fringe  of 
gold  ducats,  and  from  the  corners  of  his  hat  hung  strings 
of  rose  nobles,  the  largest  coin  then  in  vogue.  His  fingers 
were  covered  with  gold  rings,  and  the  sheath  and  handle 
of  his  sword  sparkled  with  precious  stones.  His  gigantic 
stature  was  an  additional  and  unmistakable  distinction. 

The  second  chieftain  was  Bajus.  He  prided  himself 
on  a  huge  mustache,  each  end  of  which  terminated  in  a 
rose  noble.  Whenever  he  wanted  to  drink  or  speak,  he 
had  first  to  stroke  back  both  ends  of  his  mustache  be- 
hind his  ears. 

The  third  chieftain  was  Janko.  His  body  was  small 
and  thin  ;  no  one  would  have  taken  him  for  a  man  of 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  Ill 

monstrous  strength.  Yet  he  could  leap  from  a  sitting 
posture  on  to  the  shoulders  of  the  tallest  man,  and  had 
even  been  known  to  mount  a  galloping  horse,  or  a  wagon 
going  at  full  speed,  at  a  single  bound.  In  wrestling,  he 
could  have  given  odds  to  Samson  himself. 

Him,  too.  Simplex  recognized  by  the  hellebore  he  was 
munching.  For  Janko,  like  the  son  of  Cambyses,  had  made 
a  practice  of  chewing  hellebore  from  his  youth  up- 
ward, thus  securing  himself  against  the  chance  of  being 
poisoned  ;  though  his  own  mouth  thereby  became  so 
poisonous  that  all  the  women  whom  he  kissed  fainted  in- 
stantly, and  all  the  men  whom  he  bit  died.  Even  now 
the  leaves  of  a  large  bunch  of  hellebore  were  sticking  out 
of  his  mouth  all  the  time  he  talked  to  Simplex,  to  whom 
he  put  these  questions  : 

"  Who  are  you  ?  What's  your  name  ?  Whence  do  you 
come  ?     Whither  are  you  going  ?     Whom  do  you  serve  ? " 

Simplex  put  on  as  nonchalant  an  air  as  he  was  capable 
of,  for  fear  is  a  grievous  fault  in  the  eyes  of  such  bandits, 
but  they  are  always  indulgently  disposed  toward  a  man 
of  pluck. 

"I  am  an  orphan  from  Silesia,"  said  he.  "I've  never 
had  either  father  or  mother.  I  don't  even  know  what 
name  I  received  at  my  baptism,  but  my  comrades  call  me 
Simplex  because  they  say  I  am  so  very  simple.  I  come 
from  Keszmar,  where  Master  Matthias,  the  town  crier, 
has  been  teaching  me  the  trumpet,  and  I  am  on  my  way 
to  Saros,  where  I  hope  to  enter  the  service  of  some  great 
lord  who  loves  music." 

The  robber  chieftain  fixed  a  piercing  look  on  the  speaker 
and  never  once  left  off  chewing  his  hellebore. 

"  If  you  come  from  Keszmdr  you  must  have  passed  the 

kopanitscha  of  Hamer  on  your  way.     Did  you  see  the 

wife  of  the  kopanitschar  ? " 
8 


TI2  PRETTY  MIC  HAL. 

"  Yes,  and  a  wondrously  lovely  little  creature  she  is." 

At  these  words  the  eyes  of  the  robber  sparkled. 

"  That  woman  is  my  sweetheart !  Did  you  see  her 
husband?" 

"Yes,  and  a  very  polite  old  man  he  is." 

"  Well,  if  you  know  them,  go  back  to  them  once  more. 
I'll  pay  your  traveling  expenses" — here  he  proudly  jin- 
gled the  ducats  in  his  girdle.  "Tell  them  that  they  are 
both  on  my  bad  books  ;  the  woman  because  she  a  little 
time  ago  drank  mead  and  danced  till  morning  with  the 
headman  of  Leta  at  the  church  consecration  there ;  the 
man  because  he  lately  guided  the  son  of  the  vihodar  of 
Zeb  and  his  wife  over  the  mountains,  and  thus  helped 
them  to  escape  us.  Tell  them  that  I  mean  to  pay  them 
a  visit  shortly.  The  woman  must  then  put  on  her  best 
humor,  and  the  man  must  not  show  his  face  at  all.  For 
if  I  once  kiss  the  woman's  lips  and  bite  the  man's  cheek, 
the  pair  of  them  will  have  had  enough  of  me  for  some 
time  to  come."  At  these  words  the  robber  spat  out  the 
hellebore,  and  Simplex  perceived  that  his  mouth  and  teeth 
were  perfectly  yellow.  "  That  is  the  message  you  must 
deliver  to  them,  trumpeter.  For  the  present,  however, 
you  will  remain  with  us  ;  eat  and  drink  as  much  as  your 
stomach  can  hold,  and  then  show  us  what  you  can  do 
with  the  trumpet.     We'll  pay  for  it,  of  course." 

Poor  Simplex  rejoiced  exceedingly  at  escaping  so  well, 
and  having  the  prospect  of  turning  an  honest  penny  be- 
sides, he  loudly  and  solemnly  protested  that  he  would 
faithfully  deliver  the  robber's  message. 

Meanwhile  the  sheep's  flesh  in  the  great  caldron  was 
quite  done,  and  the  robbers  sat  down  to  eat.  The  cal- 
dron was  lowered  on  to  the  outspread  skins,  which  served 
as  tablecloth  and  napkin,  and  the  robbers  carved  for 
themselves  with  their  huge  clasp-knives.     But  if  their 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  1 13 

meat  was  coarse  and  their  table  rude,  their  drinking  ves- 
sels were  magnificent.  They  consisted  of  gold  and  sil- 
ver chalices  and  pocals,  the  spoil  of  many  a  church  and 
castle,  and  as  often  as  a  robber  took  a  draught  he  drank 
to  the  memory  of  some  comrade  or  other  who  had  ended 
a  glorious  career  on  the  wheel,  gallows,  or  stake,  wind- 
ing up  with  a  full  recital  of  the  deceased's  exploits — e.g., 
how  many  men  he  had  killed,  how  many  robberies  he 
had  achieved,  what  lady  of  quality  had  been  his  doxy, 
and  how  at  the  last  he  had  manfully  endured  all  manner 
of  torments  rather  than  betray  his  comrades. 

And  after  each  toast  Simplex  had  to  blow  a  long 
flourish. 

And  as  the  feast  proceeded,  the  robbers  became  more 
and  more  communicative.  They  began  to  boast  loudly  of 
their  own  heroic  deeds  ;  how,  for  instance,  they  had  plun- 
dered great  caravans,  attacked  noblemen's  castles,  and 
extirpated  everyone  therein  in  a  different  sort  of  way  ; 
how  they  had  filled  a  Jew's  mouth  with  molten  lead,  and 
nearly  died  with  laughter  at  the  queer  faces  he  pulled  ; 
how  they  had  forced  a  rich  miser  by  torture  to  discover 
his  hidden  treasure  ;  how  they  had  tied  the  captured 
militiamen  to  the  branches  of  trees  and  then  torn  them 
limb  from  limb  ;  and  how  they  had  set  fire  to  a  church 
in  which  a  lot  of  peasants  had  taken  refuge  and  burnt 
them  all  alive.  Everyone  vied  with  his  neighbor  in 
boasting,  and  tried  to  make  himself  out  more  ferocious 
than  the  rest.  And  Simplex  blew  incessantly  with  his 
trumpet,  so  as  to  hear  as  little  as  possible  of  their  ghastly 
stories. 

The  robbers  forced  him  also  to  eat  and  drink  with 
them,  and  well  for  him  it  was  that  he  had  learnt  in  his 
student  days  to  hold  a  full  skin.  For  he  was  well  aware 
that  so  long  as  he  could  keep  on  trumpeting  he  was  safe. 


114  PRETTY  MIC  HAL. 

It  fared  with  him  as  with  the  piper  in  the  story,  who 
piped  to  the  wolf  to  save  himself  from  being  eaten  up. 

Meanwhile  night  had  set  in  ;  the  rocky  chamber  was 
lit  only  by  the  heaps  of  smoldering  logs  ;  the  robbers 
began  to  dance  a  wild  dance,  and  Simplex  was  forced  to 
mount  upon  a  barrel  and  play  for  them  with  all  his 
might.  They  stamped  with  their  feet,  roared,  howled, 
fired  off  their  guns,  and  so  deftly  hurled  their  axes  at  the 
barrel  on  which  Simplex  was  standing  that  they  all  stuck 
fast  in  it  without  hurting  a  hair  of  his  head. 

He,  poor  wretch  !  dared  not  spring  off  for  the  life  of 
him.     It  was  a  perfect  pandemonium. 

At  last  Hafran  commanded  Simplex  to  sound  an 
alarm. 

Simplex  blew  him  an  alarm  accordingly. 

"  You  rascal  !  "  cried  the  robber  captain,  "  it  was  with 
just  such  an  alarm  as  that  that  they  startled  us  at  the 
Devil's  Castle  ;  were  you  the  devil's  trumpeter  on  that 
occasion  ?  " 

Perhaps  the  drink  which  Simplex  had  already  taken 
had  flown  to  his  head,  perhaps  he  thought  it  might  go 
worse  with  him  if  he  did  not  make  a  clean  breast  of  it, 
at  any  rate  he  replied  : 

"  Yes,  'twas  I  !  " 

*'  The  devil  it  was  !  "  cried  Hafran  furiously.  "  I'll  cut 
you  in  two  this  very  instant.  Don't  you  know  that  you 
drove  us   into   the  very  jaws    of   the   devil   with   your 

d d  trumpet,  and   that  forty  of  our  comrades  went 

straight  to  hell  in  consequence  !  Stay  where  you  are  on 
that  barrel,  that  I  may  cut  you  in  two  at  a  blow  I  " 

With  that  he  drew  his  broad  palash  from  its  sheath, 
and  grasped  it  with  both  hands. 

But  this  time  Simplex  did  not  take  the  matter  as  a 
joke,  but  sprang  down  from  the  barrel  and  fled  to  his 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  115 

protector,  Janko,  who,  laughing  with  hideous  glee, 
warded  off  with  his  sword  the  strokes  which  Hafran  aimed 
at  poor  Simplex,  all  the  while  opening  wide  his  yellow- 
stained  jaws,  which  with  their  yellow  fangs  looked  like 
the  jaws  of  a  lion. 

"  Serve  you  all  right !  "  cried  he  as  he  warded  off 
Hafran's  blows.  "What  !  fifty  of  you  to  be  scared  by  a 
single  trumpeter  !  Let  him  be  in  peace  !  He  has  to 
carry  a  message  to  my  sweetheart.  Whoever  touches 
him  is  a  dead  man  !  " 

At  this  the  wrath  of  Hafran  against  Simplex  subsided, 
but  he  insisted  on  his  leaping  over  his  bare  palash,  and 
little  as  Simplex  felt  inclined  to  jump  into  the  air  just 
then,  he  had  to  do  it  ;  and  the  jest  so  took  the  fancy  of 
the  robbers  that  they  one  and  all  made  the  trumpeter 
jump  over  their  swords  likewise,  till  at  last  he  became  so 
tired  that  he  threw  himself  prone  on  the  ground  and 
allowed  himself  to  be  beaten  with  the  flats  of  their  swords 
rather  than  jump  over  them  any  more. 

Meanwhile  Janko  had  gone  to  sleep.  It  was  his  cus- 
tom to  slumber  in  a  sitting  position,  but  he  slept  so 
deeply  that  not  even  a  roaring  lion  could  have  awakened 
him. 

Gradually  also  the  remaining  robbers  fell  down  one 
by  one  heavy  with  drink. 

Only  Bajus  remained  sober. 

It  was  a  wise  provision  of  the  robbers  that  one  of 
their  leaders  should  always  remain  sober ;  he  drank 
nothing  but  mead  mixed  with  water,  and  mounted  guard 
over  the  whole  band  when  they  had  drunk  their  fill. 

It  was  already  midnight ;  the  moon  came  forth  from 
behind  the  rocks  and  shone  among  the  dark  pine 
branches. 


ii6  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

"  Up,  you  rogues  !  "  cried  Bajus,  "  the  banquet  is  over. 
Make  ready  to  depart  elsewhere,  that  we  may  all  be  on 
the  right  spot  at  the  right  moment  in  the  morning." 

At  this  command  all  the  fires  were  extinguished  one 
after  the  other.  When  it  was  quite  dark  they  began  to 
deliberate  in  whispers  which  of  their  plans  should  be 
carried  out  first. 

One  plan  was  to  attack  the  Iglo  annual  fair  in  the 
broad  daylight,  set  the  town  on  fire,  plunder  the  merchants, 
and  sack  the  town-hall. 

Their  second  plan  was  to  steal  their  way  into  the  lair 
of  the  vihodar  of  Zeb  through  a  secret  subterranean 
passage,  capture  him  and  his  son  alive,  and  make  them 
suffer  all  the  tortures  which  they  had  inflicted  on  their 
comrades  ;  as  for  the  young  woman,  they  would  cast 
lots  for  her. 

For  a  long  time  they  could  not  come  to  any  agree- 
ment. 

At  last  they  resolved  to  attack  the  Iglo  fair  ;  the 
vihodar  they  would  leave  to  some  subsequent  occasion, 
especially  as  they  would  first  of  all  have  to  gain  over 
Barbara  Pirka,  for  otherwise  that  evil  witch  was  quite 
capable  of  thr^^itling  all  the  assailants  one  after  the 
other  single-handed. 

Simplex  listened,  and  his  teeth  chattered  with  fear. 
What  he  heard  filled  him  with  joy  and  terror  at  the 
same  time — joy  because  he  had  now  an  additional  argu- 
ment for  moving  his  bosom  friend  to  rescue  Michal 
from  her  frightful  position  ;  terror  lest  the  robbers 
might  suddenly  remember  that  they  were  betraying  their 
horrible  secrets  to  one  who  was  not  of  their  band.  And 
if  they  should  remember,  what  would  become  of  him  ? 

He  would  have  given  anything  to  have  been  able  to 
creep  inside  the  crevices  of   the  rocks  near  which  he 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  n? 

was  cowering,  so  that  the  robbers  might  not  perceive 
him. 

All  at  once  the  moon,  which  had  now  risen,  shone  full 
on  the  spot  where  Simplex  stood,  and  Hafran  perceived 
him. 

"What  shall  we  do  to  prevent  this  fellow  from  betray- 
ing us  ?  "  cried  he,  and  with  that  he  took  him  by  the 
collar  and  dragged  him  into  the  midst  of  them. 

"  Strike  him  dead  !  "  cried  Bajus. 

Poor  Simplex  was  greally  terrified  ;  he  began  to 
piteously  implore  them  not  to  do  him  any  harm. 

"  Silence,  fellow  !  "  cried  Hafran  ;  "  a  stout-hearted 
lad  must  not  blubber.  He  must  stand  firm  even  when 
the  skin  is  being  flayed  from  his  body.  Whine,  and  you 
are  a  dead  man  !  We'll  have  no  cowards  here  !  Tremble 
if  you  dare  !  " 

"  Strike  him  dead  ! "  repeated  Bajus,  who  was  quite 
sober. 

"  That'll  never  do,"  said  Hafran.  "  We  promised 
Janko  that  we  would  not  kill  the  trumpeter.  Besides, 
the  fellow  has  played  well  and  entertained  us  finely.  He 
has  made  good  again  all  the  harm  he  did  with  his 
cursed  trumpet  at  the  Devil's  Castle.  At  the  same  time 
we  must  not  let  him  go  away  before  us,  or  he  will  be- 
tray us  to  the  county  train-bands.  Let  us  take  him  a 
little  way  down  the  road  and  smash  one  of  his  legs,  so 
that  he  may  not  be  able  to  go  any  further.  In  the  morn- 
ing some  wayfarer  or  other  will  be  sure  to  find  him  and 
take  care  of  him.     What  do  you  say  ? " 

But  this  proposition  was  anything  but  satisfactory  to 
Simplex  ;  not  at  any  price  would  he  hear  of  having  his 
leg  broken. 

"  Come,  come,  lad  ! "  cried  Hafran,  soothingly.  "  Don't 
be  scared  at  such  a  trifle  !     A  small  fracture  is  an  every- 


Ii8  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

day  occurrence.  The  shepherdess  in  the  hut  by  the  road- 
side will  put  it  in  splints  for  you,  mutter  a  charm  over  it, 
and  you'll  be  able  to  dance  a  jig  with  it  in  no  time.  Here 
are  twelve  dollars  to  pay  your  expenses  in  the  meantime  ; 
you  wouldn't  get  as  much  as  that  from  the  county  if  you 
went  to  law  about  it." 

And  they  seized  poor  Simplex  by  both  arms  to  drag  him 
to  the  place  where  his  leg  was  to  be  shattered.  Then  de- 
spair suggested  the  saving  thought  of  begging  the  robbers 
to  allow  him  to  blow  his  own  funeral  march,  and  holding  the 
funnel  of  his  trumpet  to  the  ear  of  the  sleeping  Janko  he 
blew  with  such  force  that  the  robber  chieftain  started  up 
from  his  sleep  and  leapt  his  own  height  in  the  air. 

"  Janko !  they  want  to  kill  me  !  Don't  allow  it, 
Janko  !  "  cried  the  agonized  wretch. 

Janko  yawned  and  stretched  himself.  Then  he  roughly 
repulsed  the  mob  which  surrounded  him,  and  wrapped 
Simplex  in  his  mantle. 

"Fear  nothing,  my  lad  !     I'll  not  let  them  hurt  you  !  " 

But  the  rest  became  more  and  more  importunate. 

"  Are  you  mad,  Janko  ?  Will  you  let  him  saddle  us  with 
the  gendarmes  while  we  are  all  drunk  ?  They  will  fall 
upon  us  while  we  are  sound  asleep,  and  then  where  shall 
we  be  ?     We  must  either  kill  him  or  break  his  leg." 

"  We'll  do  neither  the  one  nor  the  other,"  said  Janko  ; 
"  we'll  buy  him  off.  D — n  it !  let's  be  gentlemen  !  What 
are  you  most  in  need  of,  my  lad  ?  I  see  your  clothes  are 
in  rags.     You'd  better  have  it  out  in  good  stout  cloth." 

With  that  he  lifted  up  one  of  the  bales  of  goods  and 
opened  it.     It  contained  scarlet  cloth. 

He  began  to  measure  it  with  his  arm. 

"  There  you  have  five  ells  of  cloth  for  your  coat  and  vest, 
Hafran,  you  measure  him  as  much  from  your  share  for 
his  hose,  and  you,  Baius,  give  him  of  yours  for  a  mantle." 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  119 

They  fell  to  cursing,  and  curses  fell  as  thick  as  hail- 
stones ;  but  Janko  left  them  no  peace  till  Hafran  had 
clipped  him  off  five  ells  of  green  Turkish  cloth  for  his 
hose,  and  Bajus  had  contributed  just  as  much  blue  Eng- 
lish cloth  for  his  mantle. 

"  But  now  he  must  give  back  the  twelve  dollars,"  re- 
marked Bajus  ;  "if  his  leg  is  not  to  be  broken,  he  won't 
require  money  for  mending  it." 

"Not  so,"  said  Janko;  "when  a  gentlemen  has  given  a 
musician  money  he  does  not  ask  it  back  again." 

"  Well,  all  right  ;  but  at  any  rate  you  must  also  give  him 
six  dollars  as  we  have  done." 

But  Janko  could  not  be  made  to  see  this  at  all. 

"  Why  should  I  give  him  money  when  you've  given  him 
some  already } 

"  Then  I'll  smash  one  of  his  legs,  for  I  mean  to  have 
value  for  my  money." 

The  poor  trumpeter  tried  to  put  an  end  to  the  dispute 
by  instantly  volunteering  to  return  the  twelve  dollars  ; 
but  it  had  like  to  have  gone  ill  with  him  in  consequence, 
for  he  thereby  so  deeply  wounded  Hafran's  pride  that 
the  robber  chief  at  once  fired  his  gun  at  him.  Fortu- 
nately Simplex  ducked  so  nimbly  that  only  his  cap  was 
grazed. 

"  What  do  you  take  us  for,  you  bumpkin  ?  A  gentle- 
man does  not  ask  his  money  back  again  from  a  musician. 
Either  Janko  must  give  you  as  much  as  I  have  given 
you,  or  I  will  strike  you  dead." 

So  this  struggle  between  ferocity  and  magnanimity 
plunged  the  poor  trumpeter  into  a  dilemma  from  which 
there  seemed  absolutely  no  escape.  The  robbers  whirled 
their  axes  over  his  head. 

"  Listen  to  me,"  cried  Janko  suddenly,  "  I'll  tell  you 
what  we'll  do.    We'll  dig  a  deep  ditch,  and  make  the  trum- 


I20  PRETTY  MICHAL: 

peter  get  into  it.  Then  we'll  clap  an  empty  barrel  over 
him  and  peg  it  down  fast,  so  that  he  won't  be  able  to  see 
in  what  direction  we  have  gone.  He  must  sleep  in  the 
ditch  to-day,  but  to-morrow  he  may  free  himself  with 
his  ax  and  go  his  way." 

This  wise  accommodation  pleased  all  parties.  The 
robbers  forthwith  dug  a  deep  hole  in  the  earth,  put 
Simplex  inside  it,  clapped  over  him  a  cask,  the  bottom  of 
which  had  previously  been  knocked  out,  and  charged 
him  as  he  valued  his  life  npt  to  stir  from  the  spot  till 
dawn  of  day. 

He  did  exactly  as  he  was  bid,  and  that  was  very  wise  of 
him,  for  when  everything  was  perfectly  still,  and  he  might 
well  have  fancied  the  robbers  were  miles  away,  a  shot  sud- 
denly cracked  quite  close  to  him  and  the  bullet  perforated 
the  cask.  It  was  a  warning  that  he  was  being  watched. 
So  there  he  sat,  and  there  is  no  knowing  how  long  he 
might  have  remained  without  budging  had  not  a  fresh 
danger  supervened  ;  the  hole  in  which  he  sat  suddenly 
began  to  fill  with  water.  Higher  and  higher  rose  the  tide 
till  it  reached  his  very  mouth,  and  he  was  forced  to  pull 
himself  up  to  the  top  of  the  cask  to  escape  drowning.  At 
last  he  plucked  up  courage  to  look  through  the  hole  which 
the  bullet  had  made,  and  he  then  saw  that  the  whole  of 
the  rocky  chamber  had  been  converted  into  a  watershed, 
and  not  a  living  soul  was  anywhere  visible. 

Then  he  smashed  in  the  side  of  the  cask  with  his  ax, 
scrambled  out  of  the  hole,  which  was  now  completely 
filled  with  water,  and  immediately  grasped  the  meaning 
of  the  robbers'  stratagem. 

With  the  above-mentioned  improvised  weir  they  had 
dammed  up  the  mountain  stream,  and  used  its  bed  as  a 
short  cut  into  the  next  valley,  for  it  was  passable  so  long 
as  the  water  was  confined  within  the  rocky  chasm  ;  when 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  121 

the  water  had  risen  high  enough  to  overflow  into  its  bed 
again,  it  would  of  course  blot  out  all  traces  of  their 
passage. 

But  Simplex,  without  bestowing  much  thought  upon 
this  feat,  thanked  the  Almighty  for  so  miraculously  de- 
livering him  from  so  great  a  danger  ;  which  deliverance, 
moreover,  strengthened  him  in  the  belief  that  the  errand 
on  which  he  was  bound  was  a  righteous  one. 

Thereupon,  with  much  fear  and  trembling,  he 
clambered  down  the  rock-hewn  way  by  which  he  had 
ascended,  not  forgetting  to  shout  a  good-morning  into 
the  hole  of  the  mother  bear  as  he  passed. 

He  naturally  omitted  to  return  to  the  kopanitscha  and 
deliver  Janko's  message  to  the  pretty  hostess ;  but  he 
did  tell  an  oil-merchant,  whom  he  met  on  the  way,  the 
frightful  things  which  had  happened  to  him  and  bade  him 
deliver  the  message  at  the  kopanitscha,  as  it  was  all  on 
his  way.  The  oil-merchant,  on  the  other  hand,  gave  him 
a  piece  of  good  advice  ;  to  wit,  that  when  he  came  to  the 
town  of  Saros  he  should  hand  over  the  bundle  which  he 
was  carrying  on  his  back  to  the  mayor,  for  the  plundered 
merchants  had  advertised  their  wares  broadcast,  and  if 
people  saw  and  recognized  their  stolen  cloth  on  his  per- 
son they  would  measure  him  a  jacket  which  he  would 
not  get  rid  of  his  whole  lifelong. 

And  worthy  Simplex  followed  the  advice  which  was 
given  him.  No  sooner  had  he  arrived  at  Saros  than  he 
handed  over  the  costly  cloth  stuffs  to  the  town  authorities, 
and  the  merchants  rewarded  him  with  a  ducat  and  let 
him  go  on  his  way  unmolested,  as  he  himself  in  his  ex- 
tant memoirs  modestly  informs  us. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Valentine  really  becomes  one  of  those  who  work  in  blood. 

Valentine's  mother  had  become  a  widow  in  her  first 
youth.  Her  husband,  an  eminent  citizen  of  Kassa  and 
sheriff  there,  had  been  detained  as  a  hostage  by  the  Turks 
at  Buda,  whither  he  had  gone  on  a  diplomatic  mission, 
and,  succumbing  to  an  attack  of  the  Oriental  plague,  died 
in  captivity,  leaving  behind  him  a  widow  and  a  little 
orphan  son.  He  could  only  make  his  will  orally,  in  the 
presence  of  two  other  hostages  as  witnesses,  but  it  was 
on  that  very  account  all  the  more  religiously  adhered  to. 
It  prescribed  that  his  widow  should  retain  possession  of 
the  whole  of  his  property  so  long  as  it  pleased  God  to 
preserve  her  in  the  flesh,  so  that  she  might  bring  up  her 
little  son  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  in  all  pious  ways,  in 
the  true  Christian  Calvinistic  faith,  and,  "  quantum 
potest,"  in  all  knowledge  and  learning. 

These  testamentary  dispositions  were  most  rigorously 
observed.  Dame  Kalondai  herself  carried  on  the  business 
of  her  late  husband,  who  had  been  butcher  and  ham-curer 
as  well  as  sheriff,  and  she  never  gave  her  son  a  stepfather, 
though  in  her  day  she  must  have  been  a  very  pretty 
woman.  Even  now  she  was  so  buxom  and  blooming  that 
she  looked  like  a  gigantic  edition  of  a  swaddling  babe. 
She  had  taken  particular  care  that  Valentine  should  be 
properly  educated.  He  always  had  nice  clothes  and 
well-bound  books,  and  when  the  proper  time  came  she 
sent  him  to  Keszmar,  though  it  was  with  a  very  heavy 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  1 23 

heart  that  she  consented  to  part  from  her  little  son  for  so 
long  a  time. 

So  worthy  Dame  Sarah  did  not  see  her  little  son  again 
for  three  full  years,  and  when  at  last  he  did  appear  before 
her  she  could  scarcely  recognize  him. 

She  could  not  get  it  into  her  head  that  the  man  with 
the  big  mustache  was  really  her  own  little  son.  His 
father  at  his  age  had  had  no  sign  of  one. 

Then  she  tried  to  persuade  him  that  he  had  grown 
thin.  The  melancholy  which  Valentine  could  not  hide 
from  her  she  ascribed  to  some  illness  or  other.  The 
bad  mountain-water  was  certainly  to  blame  for  it. 

And  she  had  good  remedies  against  such  complaints. 
They  were  not,  indeed,  of  the  drastic  sort  of  which  the 
professor  at  Keszmar  had  so  large  a  store  ;  her 
remedies  were  simply  good  and  tasty  dishes  which  she 
prepared  for  her  little  son  with  her  own  hands.  She 
invented  a  savory  dish  against  every  ill  of  life,  and  you 
had  only  to  taste  of  it  to  be  instantly  cured.  And  when 
the  evil  was  caused  by  bad  water,  with  what  could  you 
more  certainly  cure  it  than  with  good  wine  ? 

But  Valentine's  sadness  would  yield  neither  to  the 
most  delicate  cookery  nor  to  the  most  savory  meats  ; 
he  allowed  the  daintiest  tit-bits  to  remain  on  his  plate 
untouched,  as  if  he  meant  to  save  them  for  someone 
else,  and  he  drank  the  good  wine  mixed  with  water. 

Worthy  Dame  Sarah  vainly  bothered  her  little  son  to 
tell  her  what  was  the  matter  with  him.  On  all  such 
occasions  he  would  only  smile,  kiss  his  mother  on  the 
cheek,  and  tell  her  that  there  was  absolutely  nothing  the 
matter  with  him,  his  disposition  had  only  changed  a 
little  lately,  he  said.  He  naturally  did  not  tell  Dame 
Sarah  anything  of  what  had  happened  to  him  at  school. 

Now  if   anyone  ever   wants  to  know  what  is  really 


124  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

going  on  at  his  own  house,  let  him  just  go  to  his  neigh- 
bor's and  there  he'll  find  out  all  about  it. 

One  Sunday  evening  Dame  Sarah  came  home  from 
her  neighbors',  the  Furmenders. 

"  Why,  Valentine  !  "  she  cried,  '*  what  is  this  I  hear  of 
you  ?  Young  Fiirmender  says  that  you  were  expelled 
from  the  school  at  Keszmdr  ! " 

"  If  he  says  so  he  speaks  the  truth." 

Oh  how  delighted  was  Mistress  Sarah  when  she  heard 
these  words  ! 

*'  If  it's  only  that  which  grieves  you,  my  dear,  good 
child  !  "  said  she,  soothingly,  "  don't  think  anything 
more  about  it.  Your  father  was  expelled  from  three 
schools,  but  that  did  not  prevent  him  from  getting  a  wife 
and  becoming  sheriff.  You,  too,  will  pick  up  a  nice  girl, 
and  may  become  sheriff  as  well,  one  day.  Don't  fret 
yourself  about  it.     I  never  meant  you  to  be  a  parson." 

With  that  she  kissed  and  embraced  him,  and  he  really 
did  seem  a  little  more  cheerful  after  all  these  tokens  of 
motherly  love. 

Very  soon,  however,  his  face  was  as  long  as  ever. 

Dame  Sarah's  remedies  were  inexhaustible.  The  best 
thing  for  such  moping,  woebegone  fellows,  is  certainly 
wedlock.  An  unmarried  man  is  like  a  widower  and  a 
widower  has  cause  to  be  miserable. 

She  choose  for  him  a  virtuous,  discreet  damsel,  the 
sister  of  the  above-mentioned  young  Fiirmender,  Cath- 
erine by  name,  who  was  by  no  means  indisposed  toward 
the  stately  Valentine  Kalondai.  Beautiful,  indeed,  you 
could  scarcely  call  her ;  but  her  mother  had  not  been 
a  whit  prettier,  and  yet  she  had  managed  to  do  very 
well. 

Then  she  took  her  son  Valentine  to  the  social  gather- 
ings, where  the  young  lads  and  lasses,  beneath  the  eyes 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  125 

of  their  parents,  made  merry  with  one  another  in  all 
meekness  and  sobriety. 

But  Valentine  led  neither  blonde  nor  brunette  out  to 
dance.  There  he  stood  leaning  against  the  wall  as  if 
he  had  been  put  there  for  the  express  purpose  of  prop- 
ping it  up,  and  kept  as  still  as  if  he  was  afraid  of  miss- 
ing a  single  word  of  the  conversation  that  was  going  on 
around  him. 

And  when  the  bolster  dance  followed,  during  which  it 
is  the  amiable  custom  for  the  lads  and  lasses  to  alter- 
nately carry  round  a  silken  bolster,  deposit  it  in  front 
of  the  person  whom  he  or  she  Likes  best,  kneel  down 
upon  it,  and  so  remain  till  the  favored  one  tenderly 
raises  the  suppliant  and  dances  with  her,  whereupon  it 
is  his  turn  to  carry  the  bolster  round — then,  I  say,  Val- 
entine behaved  very  badly.  For  when  Kitty  Fiirmender 
brought  the  bolster  to  him,  and  sank  down  on  her  knees 
before  him,  Valentine  would  not  dance  with  her,  and 
did  not  even  raise  her  up,  but  rudely  told  her  that  he 
had  made  a  vow  never  to  dance  again.  Then  Kitty 
naturally  burst  out  crying,  for  how  could  an  honest  girl 
be  insulted  more  grossly  ? 

When  they  got  home  Dame  Sarah  said  to  her  son  : 

"  I  say,  Valentine,  young  Furmender  says  you  are 
possessed  by  evil  spirits." 

"  I  don't  much  care  if  I  am." 

"And  for  that  reason  you  don't  trust  yourself  to  talk 
with  the  girls.  He  also  says  you  will  have  nothing  to 
do  with  your  father's  business  because  you  have  a 
horror  of  blood." 

"  He  says  that,  does  he  ?  Well,  I'll  just  show  you  to- 
morrow that  I've  no  fear  of  blood,  and  am  well  able  to 
carry  on  my  father's  trade." 

Dame  Sarah  rejoiced  greatly  at  these  Words,  for  nothing 


126  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

would  have  pleased  her  better  than  to  have  seen  her  son 
relieve  her  of  the  cares  of  the  business  ;  and  no  sooner 
had  Valentine  declared  his  intention  of  approving  him- 
self a  master  in  his  craft  than  she  handed  over  to  him  the 
ke3's  of  the  chamber  in  which  were  preserved  the  tools 
and  weapons  of  his  father,  the  butcher's  ax,  the  knives, 
muskets,  and  swords,  which  no  man's  hand  had  been  al- 
lowed to  touch  since  his  death.  It  is  not  surprising,  there- 
fore, if  all  these  implements  were  somewhat  rust-eaten, 
and  it  was  only  natural  that  Valentine  should  spend  the 
whole  of  the  forenoon  in  furbishing  them  up  with  polish- 
ing powder,  tow,  and  chalk,  till  they  shone  as  bright  as 
mirrors.  He  was  evidently  determined  that  his  father's 
tools  should  gleam  quite  splendidly  when  he  wrought  his 
promised  masterpiece. 

At  midday  Dame  Sarah  served  up  all  Valentine's  fav- 
orite dishes,  and  after  she  had  feasted  her  little  son  right 
royally,  she  told  him  that  she  had  given  due  notice  to  the 
guild-master  that  her  boy  was  about  to  qualify  himself 
for  his  profession,  and  also  that  she  had  already  paid  for 
the  license.  All  ready  in  the  stall  stood  the  fat  ox  where- 
on he  was  to  display  his  dexterity  on  this  occasion.  In 
the  cellar  a  cask  of  wine  had  been  broached,  and  on  the 
counter  she  had  deposited  four  or  five  gold  pieces,  as  it 
was  quite  possible  that  the  'prentice  hand  of  the  young 
master  might  have  lost  its  cunning,  so  that  he  would  not 
be  able  to  fell  the  ox  at  a  single  blow,  in  which  case  he 
would  have  to  pay  to  the  butcher's  guild  a  gold  piece  for 
every  extra  blow  till  the  ox  fell. 

"  Alas,  dear  mother,"  cried  Valentine,  "  my  guild- 
master  is  not  where  you  seek  him.  Captain  Count  Hom- 
monai  will  be  my  guild-master.  It  is  not  in  the  slaughter- 
house, but  on  the  battlefield  that  I  mean  to  achieve  my 
masterpiece.     I  will  not  strike  oxen,  which  are  unable  to 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  .     127 

defend  themselves,  but  Turks,  who  can  give  back  blow 
for  blow.     War  shall  be  my  trade." 

At  first  Dame  Sarah  would  not  believe  him,  she  thought 
it  was  only  the  wine  which  was  speaking  out  of  him  ;  but 
when  Valentine  fetched  down  his  father's  arms,  the  old 
sword,  the  musket,  the  long  three-edged  dagger,  all  most 
splendidly  burnished,  the  good  woman  burst  into  tears, 
fell  upon  his  neck,  begged  him  to  stay  at  home,  and  ad- 
jured him  not  to  commit  such  an  act  of  folly.  He  was 
still  too  weak  a  lad  for  that  sort  of  thing,  she  said.  What ! 
had  she  brought  him  up  so  nicely,  and  even  got  a  learned 
professor  to  teach  him  Latin,  only  that  he  might  now  go 
away  and  be  cut  down  by  the  first  wild  Turk  he  met,  or 
get  one  of  his  legs  torn  off  by  a  chain-shot,  and  leave  his 
widowed  mother  comfortless  ?  But  all  this  had  not  the 
slightest  effect  upon  Valentine.  He  replied  that  his 
father  had  gone  to  the  wars  before  him,  and  he  meant  to 
do  what  his  father  had  done. 

Now  when  Dame  Sarah  saw  that  all  her  maternal  beg- 
ging and  praying  and  all  her  fine  words  were  quite  thrown 
away  upon  her  son,  she  suddenly  turned  round  and  over- 
whelmed him  with  the  bitterest  curses. 

"  Very  well,  then,  you  wicked,  obstinate  son,  if  you  will 
bring  trouble  and  sorrow  down  upon  your  mother's  head, 
go,  and  be  hanged  to  you.  I  know  all  about  it.  Young 
Furmender  has  told  me  that  you  have  chummed  up  with 
a  vagabond  sort  of  fellow,  one  Simplex,  who  serves  as 
field-trumpeter  with  Count  Hommonai,  and  is  your  dear- 
est bosom  friend.  He  it  is  who  leads  you  astray  into  all 
kinds  of  wickedness.  He  it  is  who  has  persuaded  you  to 
be  a  soldier.  Very  well,  if  your  comrade  is  dearer  to  you 
than  your  own  mother,  be  off  with  you.  You  may  go  and 
die  far  away  where  I  can't  get  you  buried,  for  all  that  I 
care.     If  one  of  your  hands  is  cut  off  I'll  disown  you,  for 

8 


128  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

my  son  had  both  his  hands.  You  may  go  and  beg  your 
bread,  but  don't  look  to  me  for  help.  From  me  you  don't 
get  a  red  farthing.  Your  father  left  all  his  property  to 
me,  remember." 

"  Except  his  weapons,"  said  Valentine.  He  asked  for 
nothing  more,  but  went  straight  off  to  Captain  Hommo- 
nai  and  enlisted  under  his  banner.  They  gave  him  a 
horse,  a  wolf  skin,  and  three  Polish  guldens  by  way  of  en- 
listment-money, and  kept  fast  hold  of  him,  for  the  troops 
were  to  set  out  for  the  camp  at  Onod  at  a  moment's 
notice. 

And  Mistress  Sarah  hardened  her  heart  to  such  a  de- 
gree, that  as  the  banderium  marched  out  of  the  town  the 
same  night  amidst  the  blare  of  clarions,  she  did  not  even 
stand  in  the  doorway  to  greet  her  son  for  the  last  time  ; 
but  she  hid  herself  behind  the  flower-pots  in  the  window, 
and  while  she  peered  yearningly  after  him,  she  poured 
out  all  the  fury  of  her  heart  upon  the  trumpeter  by  wish- 
ing that  he  might  break  his  neck  on  the  way.  And  this 
curse  was  within  an  ace  of  being  fulfilled  upon  worthy 
Simplex. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Wherein  is  shown  of  what  great  use  it  is  when  a  mother  is  hard- 
hearted toward  her  only  son.  Also  concerning  divers  skirmishes 
with  the  Turks,  things  not  to  be  read  of  without  a  shudder. 

Rumor  said  that  the  Turks  had  invaded  the  Tokay 
district  and  ravaged  Hegylaja,  and  this,  too,  just  at  vin- 
tage time  when  the  whole  rural  population  was  living 
in  the  vineyards. 

Now  an  Hungarian  does  not  lightly  surrender  to  the 
foe  the  chiefest  of  the  three  mountains  in  his  coat  of 
arms,  to  wit,  the  Tokay  mountain.  Orders,  therefore, 
were  given  by  the  Palatine  of  Hungary  on  the  one  side 
and  by  the  Prince  of  Transylvania  on  the  other  for  the 
banderia  of  Zemplin  and  Alany  to  turn  out  immediately, 
unite  with  the  Zipsers  at  Onod,  and  fall  upon  the  Turks 
whenever  and  wherever  they  might  meet  them. 

It  was  at  the  very  time  when  he  was  celebrating  the 
feast  in  honor  of  his  wedding  with  the  lovely  Isabella 
Peruyi,  that  the  local  commander.  Count  John  Hommonai, 
received  the  order  to  depart. 

They  were  just  at  the  last  dance,  the  torch-dance, 
during  which  the  guests  and  the  bridesmaids  dance  before 
the  bride  to  the  bridegroom's  house,  when  the  herald 
summoned  the  bridegroom  from  the  midst  of  the  dancers, 
whereupon  the  gentlemen  threw  away  their  torches  and 
mounted  their  horses,  while  the  count  himself  had  only 
time  to  impress  a  kiss  on  the  lips  of  his  beloved  bride 
and  recommend  her  to  God's  protection  on  the  very 
threshold  of  the  bridal  mansion. 

lag 


13°  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

The  departure  of  the  troops  took  place  hi  the  dead  of 
night.  Valenthie  rode  beside  his  faithful  Simplex,  who 
not  only  had  to  blow  the  field-trumpet  but  also  to  beat 
the  kettle-drums,  which  hung  down  on  both  sides  of  his 
saddle.  His  horse  was  naturally  the  sorriest  of  hacks, 
for  all  the  others  were  much  too  spirited  to  patiently  en- 
dure the  roll  of  kettle-drums  close  behind  their  ears. 

"  Look  ye,  comrade  Simplex,"  said  Valentine,  "  our 
present  campaign  will  be  my  ordeal.  You  have  told  me 
that  my  poor  Michal  is  unhappy  and  wants  to  see  me  ; 
that  she  has  never  reached  Great  Leta,  that  she  has  been 
shamefully  deceived  by  her  husband  ;  that  she  suffers 
much,  and  is  exposed  to  indescribably  great  dangers. 
More  than  that  you  will  not  tell  me,  nor  have  I  aske^d  to 
know  more,  but  I  have  been  thinking  ever  since  such 
thoughts  as  these  :  Shall  I  not  be  committing  a  grievous 

sin  if  I  go  seek  her  ?     Shall  I  not  be  d d  for  it  along 

with  her  ?     It  does  not  matter  very  much,  perhaps,  if  I'm 

d d,  although  I,  too,  should  like  to  see  my  dear  old 

father  in  Paradise,  and  the  sight  of  my  good  mother 
among  the  blessed  would  rejoice  me  greatly  ;  but  the 
thought  that  I  might  drag  this  unhappy  creature  down 
to  hell  with  me,  fills  me  with  horror.  Her  place  is  in 
heaven  among  the  angels.  But  you've  such  an  enticing 
way  of  putting  matters,  that  I'm  no  longer  able  to  decide 
whether  what  I  am  about  to  do  is  good  or  bad.  Now  I 
mean  to  leave  it  to  the  decision  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts. 
When  we  stand  on  the  battlefield,  he  who  tries  the  hearts 
and  reins  will  read  in  my  breast  that  I  still  love  my 
Michal,  though  she  has  bound  herself  by  an  oath  to 
another,  and  if  this  feeling  be  a  sin,  the  guards  of  the 
Lord,  the  angels  of  Death  are  there,  and  he  can  charge 
them  to  call  me  away  so  as  to  prevent  me  from  committing 
evil.     If,  however,  I  return  in  safety,  if  sword  and  bullet 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  13 1 

(and  I  certainly  shall  not  keep  out  of  their  way)  leave 
me  unhurt,  that  will  be  a  sign  that  the  heavenly  Omnip- 
otence is  ready  to  perform  a  miracle  for  my  sake,  where- 
by I  shall  win  back  again  her  whom  I  had  given  up  for 
lost.  If  I  return  safe  and  sound,  if  no  evil  befall  me, 
I'll  go  and  seek  my  Michal." 

"  But  in  that  case  you  must  take  care  that  I  come  back 
too,  for  without  me  you  will  not  find  your  Michal,  even 
if  you  were  to  set  out  to  seek  her  with  Christopher  Colum- 
bus himself  for  your  guide." 

"  Have  no  fear,  comrade,  we  will  live  and  die  together." 

But  Valentine  lagged  behind  the  troop,  A  load  lay 
upon  his  breast.  From  his  earliest  childhot^d  he  had 
been  wont  every  night,  as  it  grew  dark,  to  say  this  prayer  : 
"  Be  with  me,  O  Lord  my  God  !  and  let  my  poor,  good 
mother  awake  safe  and  sound.  Amen."  His  tutor  had 
taught  him  a  much  finer  prayer  in  Latin  ;  but  this  prayer 
he  never  could  recollect.  He  could  never  reconcile  him- 
self to  the  secula  seculorum  ;  why  should  he  ask  good 
things  for  himself  for  a  thousand  years  to  come  ?  He 
was  content  to  pray  for  what  he  wanted  day  by  day. 
That  would  be  quite  enough  if  it  were  granted  him. 
He  made  as  if  he  were  only  dismounting  to  tighten  his 
loosened  saddle-girth,  and  when  he  was  out  of  hearing  of 
his  comrades'  curses,  he  covered  his  face  in  his  furred 
horse-cloth  and  muttered  his  short  prayer,  whereupon 
he  swung  himself  into  his  saddle  with  a  lightened  heart 
and  galloped  after  his  comrades. 

By  morning  they  stood  before  Nemeti,  which  is  half  an 
hour's  journey  from  Gonez,  and  there  the  captain,  officers, 
and  gentry  swear  the  banner  oath  under  the  open  sky. 
Then  they  halted,  and  after  a  short  rest  proceeded  on 
further. 

Just  as  they  were  about  to  cross  the  Hernad  at  Nemeti, 


132  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

whom  do  you  think  they  found  on  the  banks  ?  Why, 
Dame  Sarah  with  a  huge  Kassa  wagon  drawn  by  three 
stout  horses.  The  wagon  was  well  laden.  It  contained 
a  Gonezer  cask  full  of  wine,  a  keg  of  plum  brandy,  fresh 
white  bread,  cakes,  sheep  cheeses  in  small  trusses,  and  in 
the  midst  of  this  ambulant  storehouse  beamed  the  radiant 
countenance  of  the  buxom  citizeness  of  Kassa,  with  both 
her  round  white  arms  bare  to  the  elbow. 

"  My  dear,  good  mother  !  What  do  you  want  here  ?  " 
cried  Valentine,  rushing  to  the  wagon. 

"  Oh,  you  wicked  son  !  if  you  are  bent  on  following 
this  trade,  I,  at  any  rate,  won't  let  you  die  of  hunger. 
Come,  eat  and  drink  !  Call  hither,  too,  the  gentleman 
officers  and  your  good  companions.  There  is  enough 
here  for  everyone." 

They  did  not  wait  to  be  asked  twice,  but  crowded 
round  the  wagon  straightway,  and  Dame  Sarah  helped 
them  to  everything  with  both  hands.  When  she  per- 
ceived the  trumpeter  she  singled  him  out  from  the  rest. 

"  Hi  !  come  here,  trumpeter !  May  the  thunderbolt 
strike  the  ground  within  three  yards  of  you  !  You've 
seduced  my  son,  have  you  ?  Then  come  hither  and  sit 
down  by  me,  and  if  you  don't  eat  your  fill  it  will  be  the 
worse  for  you." 

Good  Simplex  did  what  he  could.  He  sat  down  in  the 
wagon  at  Dame  Sarah's  side,  and  ate  and  drank  his  fill ; 
but  soon  his  appetite  began  to  flag,  and  at  last  he  pro- 
tested he  could  go  on  no  longer. 

"  Fellow  !  you  must  eat  or  I'll  stuff  it  down  your 
throat." 

And  with  that  she  seized  Simplex  by  both  arms,  shook 
him  like  a  sack  which  must  be  made  to  hold  still  more, 
and  compelled  him  to  begin  his  meal  over  again. 

But  worthy  Valentine  was  more  delighted  at  the  sight 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  133 

of  his  mother's  strong,  stout  arms,  than  at  all  the  good 
things  she  distributed,  and  he  covered  the  good  creature 
with  kisses. 

"  And  now,  dear  mother,  turn  back,  there  can  be  enough 
of  a  good  thing,"  said  he,  perceiving  that  the  main  body 
of  the  hussars  had  reached  the  ford  on  the  opposite  side, 
and  only  the  rear  guard  still  remained  behind.  The 
officers  also  urged  her  to  turn  back. 

'*  Turn  back,  eh  ?  Do  you  really  think  I  have  come  all 
this  way,  with  a  heavy-laden  wagon,  only  to  turn  back  ? 
I  will  follow  my  son  to  the  very  end  of  the  world.  I'll 
not  leave  him  just  when  things  are  going  badly  with 
him.     Why  should  I  be  afraid  when  others  are  not.?  " 

In  vain  they  represented  that  it  was  not  the  proper 
thing  for  a  woman  to  roam  about  in  regions  haunted  by 
fighting  Turks.  There  was  no  reasoning  with  her,  they 
were  obliged  to  take  her  along  with  the  baggage 
wagons. 

Meanwhile  the  scouts  brought  tidings  that  the  Turkish 
predatory  bands  were  assembling  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Theiss  at  Plakamocz.  It  was  a  good  thing  that  all  the 
ferry-boats  at  Tokay  had  been  drawn  up  on  to  the  shore, 
thus  preventing  the  enemy  from  crossing  over  without 
great  difificulty. 

Count  Hommonai  therefore  resolved  to  seek  the  Turks 
beyond  the  Theiss,  and  led  his  troops  toward  Tokay. 

When  they  had  crossed  to  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
they  could  nowhere  find  a  trace  of  the  enemy,  who  evi- 
dently intended  to  entice  the  Hungarians  further  inland, 
and  then  drive  them  back  upon  the  Theiss. 

Dame  Sarah  would  have  followed  them  to  the  other 
side  also,  but  this  they  would  on  no  account  allow  her  to 
do.  The  baggage  wagons  had  to  be  left  behind  on  the 
opposite  bank.     She  then  begged  that,  at  least,  they  would 


134  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

let  her  drive  up  to  the  highest  hill  thereabouts,  from 
whence  she  might  watch  her  little  son  scuffling  with  the 
Turks. 

"  Take  care,  good  mother,  that  a  cannon  ball  does  not 
hurt  you." 

"  Fiddlesticks  !  You  call  yourself  a  student,  and  don't 
even  know  that  a  cannon  ball  cannot  fly  across  a  river  be- 
cause the  water  draws  it  down,"  cried  Dame  Sarah,  tri- 
umphantly, and  with  that  she  drove  to  the  top  of  the  hill, 
where  she  stood  up  on  the  wagon  and  thence  surveyed 
the  course  of  the  skirmish,  while  her  great  lout  of  a 
coachman,  in  his  fear  and  anguish,  crawled  under  a 
wagon,  and  viewed  the  fight  with  his  back.  And  yet 
the  fellow  called  himself  a  man  ! 

First  of  all,  five  Turkish  horsemen  appeared  on  the 
top  of  a  hill.  How  many  more  lay  behind  the  hill, 
nobody  of  course  could  tell. 

To  the  left  stretched  a  large  morass  covered  with 
rushes,  on  the  right  lay  an  oak  forest.  The  presumption 
was  that  the  whole  thicket  was  swarming  with  hidden 
foes. 

So  out  against  the  five  Turkish  horsemen  rode  just  as 
many  and  no  more,  from  the  Hungarian  side,  whereupon 
the  five  Turks  turned  tail  and  galloped  off,  the  Hun- 
garians also  instantly  returning  to  their  ranks. 

Then  seven  or  eight  Turkish  horsemen  reappeared, 
and  began  insulting  the  Hungarians,  not  with  words 
indeed,  which  would  have  been  quite  thrown  away  at  so 
great  a  distance,  but  with  all  sorts  of  outrageous  ges- 
tures ;  while  the  Hungarians,  not  to  be  outdone,  re- 
taliated in  kind  with  great  spirit  and  originality.  Tiring 
at  last,  however,  of  this  pantomimic  war,  eight  of  the 
Hungarian  horsemen  dashed  against  the  Turks  with 
couched  lances.     In  the  ensuing  melee  all  sixteen  lances 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  135 

were  splintered  to  atoms,  whereupon  the  horsemen  on 
both  sides  returned  to  their  respective  places. 

At  last  the  Hungarian  commander  grew  weary  of 
these  tantalizing  tactics,  divided  his  troops  into  four 
battalions,  and  sent  one  of  them  off  to  encompass  the 
forest.  On  this  division  coming  close  up  to  the  out- 
skirts of  the  wood,  a  swarm  of  Turkish  horsemen  rushed 
out  upon  them  with  loud  cries  ;  whereupon  the  Hun- 
garians feigned  flight  till  they  had  drawn  the  pursuers 
within  reach  of  the  second  line  of  battle,  when  they 
suddenly  turned  and  drove  the  Turks,  who  were  now 
completely  surrounded,  toward  the  morass.  Here,  how- 
ever, they  themselves  fell  into  an  ambush  of  janizaries, 
who  picked  them  off  from  among  the  bushes,  and  at  the 
same  moment  from  behind  the  sedges  there  poured  forth 
a  whole  stream  of  horsemen  of  all  sorts,  Albanians,  Spahis, 
and  Moors,  who  attacked  them  on  all  sides  like  a  swarm 
of  hornets. 

The  Hungarian  captain  now  set  his  third  division  in 
motion,  in  which  were  also  Valentine  and  his  comrade 
Simplex. 

Dame  Sarah,  from  the  opposite  shore,  saw  how  they 
charged  the  foe. 

"  Why,  the  plucky  lad  sits  on  horseback  as  if  he  had 
never  learnt  anything  else  all  his  life  !  If  only  his  poor 
father  could  see  him  !  " 

Valentine  had  never  learnt  the  trade  of  a  soldier,  but 
he  did  what  he  thought  was  the  right  thing,  grasping  his 
father's  broad  crooked  sword  in  his  right  hand,  and  his 
long  three-edged  dagger  in  his  left,  at  the  same  time 
throwing  his  horse's  reins  over  its  neck.  Simplex,  like- 
wise, drew  his  broadsword  and  wrapped  his  wolfskin 
round  his  left  arm  by  way  of  a  buckler. 

Two  horsemen   were  coming  straight   at  them  ;  one 


136  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

of  them  was  an  Albanian  in  a  coat  of  mail,  the  other  a 
distinguished  Spain,  an  Aga  at  the  very  least. 

The  Albanian  horseman  was  covered  from  head  to 
foot  with  a  coat  of  scale  armor  ;  his  horse's  head  and 
neck  were  protected  in  the  same  way,  and  it  also  bore  a 
huge  spike  on  its  forehead,  so  that  the  pair  looked  for  all 
the  world  like  a  crocodile  mounted  on  a  unicorn,  and 
worthy  Simplex  was  so  astonished  at  this  strange  sight 
that  he  forgot  he  had  a  sword  in  his  hand.  Besides, 
thought  he,  what  weapon  can  cut  down  a  man  who  is 
cased  in  steel  ?  So  in  his  terror  he  merely  held  his  wolf- 
skin buckler  in  front  of  his  head,  and  the  Albanian  aimed 
a  mighty  blow  at  him  with  his  sword,  which  was  like  to 
have  felled  him  to  the  ground. 

Fortunately  Valentine  observed  the  danger  of  his 
comrade,  and  while  throwing  him  a  word  of  encourage- 
ment, smote  the  Albanian  so  violently  on  the  head  with 
the  dagger  in  his  left  hand,  that  the  scaly  monster  im- 
mediately plunged  headlong  from  his  horse  ;  but  at  the 
same  time  the  Spahi  aimed  a  terrific  blow  at  Valentine's 
neck. 

'•  Don't  you  touch  my  son,  you  heathen  you  !  "  cried 
Dame  Sarah  from  the  wagon  on  the  opposite  shore  ; 
and  whether  it  was  the  effect  of  her  voice  or  of  Valentine's 
rapid  hand  it  is  difficult  to  say,  but  at  any  rate  the 
youth  parried  the  blow  of  the  Turk  so  well  that  he 
struck  the  sword  out  of  his  hand,  and  at  the  same  time 
sliced  off  a  piece  of  his  thumb.  Then  he  seized  the 
Spahi  by  the  collar  and  led  him  away  captive,  the  Turk 
all  the  time  begging  for  mercy,  and  promising  him  a 
ransom  of  two  hundred  gold  guldens  if  he  spared  his 
life. 

Valentine  brought  his  captive  safely  to  the  rear,  where 
the  captain  praised  him  for  his  valor,  but  said  that  they 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  137 

had  now  had  quite  enough  fighting  for  one  day.  The 
skirmish  was  over.  On  both  sides  there  were  just 
enough  of  killed  and  wounded  to  satisfy  honor,  neither 
more  nor  less,  so  that  both  generals  could  tell  their 
hosts  that  they  had  conquered.  Those  of  the  enemy 
who  had  not  taken  flight  were  cut  down,  and  those  who 
could  not  work  their  way  out  of  the  morass  were  drowned. 
As  for  the  leaders,  neither  of  them  had  lost  a  hair,  and 
if  either  of  them  cared  to  fire  a  haystack  on  his  retreat 
and  claim  to  have  burnt  a  fortress,  no  one  would  be  a 
whit  the  wiser  and  his  reputation  would  be  made. 

But  all  this  time  Simplex  was  nowhere  to  be  found, 
which  greatly  embarrassed  the  whole  company,  for  he 
had  with  him  the  field-trumpet  and  the  kettle-drum  of 
the  banderium,  and  without  them  they  could  of  course 
neither  beat  a  recall  nor  sound  a  reveille. 

But  Valentine  was  more  embarrassed  than  them  all,  for 
if  Simplex  were  lost,  who  was  to  lead  him  to  his  Michal? 
All  that  he  knew  of  her  at  present  was  that  her  husband 
had  not  taken  her  to  Great  Leta  as  he  had  promised,  but 
to  some  other  place. 

Valentine,  therefore,  begged  the  captain  to  allow  him 
to  return  to  the  battlefield  with  two  companions,  to  search 
for  Simplex  on  the  margin  of  the  morass  where  the)'  had 
last  fought  side  by  side.  The  undertaking  was  not  with- 
out danger,  for  bands  of  marauders  were  wont  to  prowl 
about  the  battlefield  to  plunder  the  fallen  and  make  cap- 
tive the  survivors;  so  the  captain,  Count  Hommonai, 
gave  Valentine  not  two,  but  six  horsemen,  who  were  to 
help  seek  the  field-trumpeter  by  the  borders  of  the  morass. 

But  Simplex  had  not  been  cut  down  by  the  Turks  after 
all.  Such  a  glorious  death  was  by  no  means  his  ideal. 
When  the  battle  was  raging  its  fiercest,  when  the  oppos- 
ing warriors  fell  upon  each  other  tooth  and  nail,  and  there 


138  PRETTY  MIC  HAL. 

was  such  a  whirring  and  clashing  of  lances  and  battle-axes 
that  it  was  as  much  as  a  man  could  do  to  avoid  having 
an  eye  knocked  out — then,  I  say,  Simplex,  without  think- 
ing twice  about  it,  sprang  nimbly  from  his  nag,  unbuckled 
both  his  kettle-drums,  left  his  steed  to  its  own  devices, 
hid  the  trumpet  in  the  bushes,  and  crept  himself  into  a 
place  where  the  reeds  and  sedges  were  thickest.  Then 
when  the  din  of  battle  was  over  and  everything  was  quite 
still  again,  he  crept  out  of  his  hiding-place  and  looked 
about  him. 

Here  and  there  a  few  couples  were  still  fighting  in  the 
distance,  but  all  around  lay  only  the  bodies  of  those  who 
had  already  had  their  fill  of  fighting  in  this  life.  Close 
to  the  swamp,  too,  he  espied  the  charger  of  the  Albanian 
horseman.  It  was  quietly  grazing,  but  the  Albanian, 
whose  head  Valentine  had  split  open,  lay  on  the  ground 
still  holding  fast  the  reins  in  his  convulsively  clenched 
fist,  so  that  the  horse  dragged  him  along  whenever  it 
changed  its  place.  The  trumpeter  immediately  appro- 
priated this  beautiful  beast.  First  he  loaded  him  with 
the  kettle-drums,  then  he  took  off  all  the  Albanian's  finery, 
hung  it  on  the  end  of  his  lance,  and  so  rode  toward  the 
camp.  Valentine  and  his  comrades  met  him  when  he 
was  already  half-way  there. 

Simplex  made  the  most  of  his  victory.  He  demon- 
strated how  he  had  first  cloven  the  Albanian  horseman  to 
the  very  saddle-bow,  and  then  torn  his  horse  away  from 
under  him  by  main  force.  Valentine  listened  to  him  in 
silence,  for  in  those  days  it  was  an  understood  thing  that 
when  one  friend  had  achieved  an  heroic  deed  which  suf- 
ficed for  two,  he  was  to  relinquish  half  the  glory  of  it  to 
his  less  fortunate  comrade  ;  and  further,  that  one  friend 
should  never  put  another  to  shame  by  publicly  contra- 
dicting him  when  he  drew  the  long-bow  too  strongly. 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  139 

Simplex  was  highly  commended  by  the  captain,  who 
made  him  a  present  of  the  Albanian's  horse  (his  former 
sorry  nag  had  returned  of  its  own  accord  to  the  camp), 
so  that  he  was  richly  recompensed.  Then  he  gave  the 
signal  for  the  scattered  horsemen  to  reassemble,  and  in 
the  evening  the  Hungarians  retreated  in  perfect  order  to 
the  other  side  of  the  Thiros,  almost  everyone  of  them 
taking  back  with  him  a  captive  Turk. 

Valentine  brought  his  prisoner  to  his  mother,  who  was 
as  much  delighted  as  any  child  to  whom  his  father  brings 
home  from  the  chase  a  live  wild  cat.  The  good  woman 
would  not  hear  of  the  Turk  being  bound  to  the  wagon, 
and  compelled  to  run  after  it  on  foot  all  the  way  to  Kassa ; 
but  assigned  him  a  place  near  the  coachman,  merely  tak- 
ing the  precaution  to  bind  one  of  his  feet  to  the  trestle 
with  a  leather  strap,  so  that  it  might  not  occur  to  him  to 
spring  down  and  run  away.  After  that  she  tied  up  the 
poor  fellow's  maimed  thumb. 

With  what  pride  would  she  not  exhibit  this  real  live 
Turk  at  home  ! 

Young  Fiirmender  would  no  longer  be  able  to  say  that 
Valentine  was  possessed  by  evil  spirits,  and  that  he  was 
afraid  of  blood. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

In  which  it  is  shown  by  an  edifying  example  that  he  who  pursues  the 
path  of  evil  must  needs  fall  into  the  ditch. 

They  all  arrived  safely  at  Kassa.  Dame  Sarah  with 
the  captive  Turk  had  got  home  even  sooner  than  her 
son. 

"  Do  you  know,  Valentine,"  said  she,  "  this  Turk  is  a 
very  good,  pious  fellow  !  He  is  as  gentle  as  a  lamb,  and 
can  speak  Hungarian  like  a  native.  He  learnt  it  at 
Grosswardein.  All  the  way  home  I  was  holding  up  to 
him  the  glory  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  he  listened 
to  me  with  the  greatest  attention.  How  nice  it  would 
be  if  only  I  could  convert  him  to  the  true  faith  !  " 

"  Anything  but  that,  dear  mother  !  "  cried  Valentine, 
in  consternation.  "Pray  don't  get  it  into  your  head  to 
convert  this  Turk,  or  he'll  remain  where  he  is,  and  I  shall 
lose  his  ransom,  and  be  two  hundred  ducats  out  of  pocket 
in  consequence." 

His  impious  speech  scandalized  worthy  Dame  Sarah 
greatly. 

"  But,  but,  my  son,  are  these  two  hundred  ducats  more 
to  you  than  the  soul  of  a  converted  heathen  ?  How  can 
you  speak  so  impiously?  Suppose  the  Apostles  had 
thought  as  you  do  !  And  why  lay  such  stress  upon  these 
two  hundred  ducats  ?  If  you  want  money,  here  hang 
the  keys  at  my  girdle.  I'll  give  them  to  yon.  Thrust 
your  arm  into  the  great  money  chest,  take  the  whole 
treasure  away  with  you  if  you  will,  for  we  have  an  honest 
trade  which  brings  us  in  as  much  gold  and  silver  as  we 

140 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  141 

want.  But  if  you  must  earn  money,  at  all  events  don't 
earn  it  by  offering  men's  flesh  for  sale.  Say  !  Will  you 
have  the  keys? " 

"  God  bless  you,  my  dear  mother  !  I  don't  want  your 
gold.  I'll  spend  no  money  but  what  I've  earned,  piece 
by  piece,  by  the  sweat  of  my  brow." 

"  Eh,  eh,  young  fellow  !  I  see  what  it  is.  You  have 
something  on  your  mind  which  you  don't  want  your  old 
mother  to  know.  Come,  sir,  confess  that  you're  in  love  ! 
Out  with  it,  don't  be  shamefaced  !  Your  father  was  just 
such  another  mealy-mouth.  For  two  whole  years  he  was 
dangling  after  me  without  the  pluck  to  open  his  mouth, 
till  at  last  I  was  forced  to  take  pity  on  him.  Come,  now, 
speak  the  truth  !     You  are  in  love?" 

"  Perhaps  I  am." 

"  Who's  the  lady  ? " 

"  That's  more  than  I  can  tell  you." 

''Some  poor  lass,  I  suppose  of  lowly  birth  perhaps? 
Perhaps  a  peasant's  daughter,  or  maybe,  even  a  serving- 
maid  ?  I  don't  care.  Let  her  family  be  what  it  may,  if 
only  she  herself  is  a  virtuous  virgin,  you  may  bring  her 
to  my  house  without  fear.  If  she  is  clumsy,  I'll  gladly 
shut  one  eye  and  only  see  that  she  loves  you.  If  she 
knows  absolutely  nothing  at  all,  I'll  be  her  teacher,  and 
she  shall  learn  from  me  everything  which  a  right-minded 
housewife  ought  to  know.     Come,  now  !     Who  is  it  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  say,  my  good  mother  !  " 

"  Valentine  !  Valentine  !  "  cried  Dame  Sarah,  threaten- 
ing her  son  with  the  large  carving-knife  which  she  always 
kept  hanging  by  her  side.  "  You  are  after  no  good  thing. 
You  love  a  woman  who  has  already  got  a  husband. 
Don't  deny  it  !  I  see  by  your  sudden  change  of  color 
that  I've  hit  the  mark.  Valentine,  you  are  walking  in 
evil  ways !     Bethink  you  what  is  in  store  for  you — here 


142  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

on  earth  the  sword  of  the  headsman,  and  in  the  next 
world  the  fires  of  hell  !  You  know  that  in  matters  of 
morality  our  laws  don't  jest  !  I  have  seen  with  my  own 
eyes  many  a  head,  quite  as  comely  as  yours,  roll  in  the 
sand — the  sole  offense  of  these  poor  sinners  was  presum- 
ing to  cast  sheep's  eyes  at  women  who  had  no  business  to 
have  lovers  at  all.  But  I  pray  God  that  he'll  place  an 
obstacle  in  your  path  at  the  very  outset,  which  will  make 
it  impossible  for  you  to  go  any  further  on  the  way  where 
shame,  death,  and  damnation  await  you.  God  will  hear 
me  !  " 

But  Valentine  reflected  that  he  too  had  recommended 
his  affairs  to  God.  Had  he  not  said  that  if  he  returned 
safe  and  sound  from  the  battle,  it  should  be  a  sign  that 
his  intention  of  seeking  out  his  beloved  in  her  misery 
was  right  and  pious  ?  And,  lo  !  the  blessing  of  God  had 
followed  hard  upon  his  footsteps  ;  he  had  not  only  re- 
turned home  safe  and  sound,  but  had  brought  back  with 
him  a  captive  whose  ransom  would  enable  him  to  face 
all  manner  of  unknown  perils  with  far  more  courage  than 
if  he  only  had  an  empty  purse.  Therefore  he  impatiently 
waited  for  the  kinsfolk  of  his  prisoner  Achmed  to  send 
him  the  ransom  from  Grosswardein.  But  it  was  just  at 
this  time  that  Dame  Sarah  was  moving  heaven  and  earth 
to  convert  the  Turk.  Every  day  she  read  to  him  extracts 
from  the  Gospels,  and  taught  him  to  sing  hymns.  He  had 
even  got  so  far  as  to  renounce  those  articles  of  his  creed 
which  prohibited  the  drinking  of  wine  and  the  eating  of 
ham,  when  he  one  day  put  to  Dame  Sarah  the  ticklish 
question,  whether  a  converted  Turk  might  not  keep  all 
four  of  his  wives  ?  The  worthy  dame  smote  her  hands 
together  in  horror. 

"  What !  you  have  four  wives,  you  d d  Turk  ?    Well, 

then,  you  may  remain   in  your  heathenish  faith  for  all  I 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  I4J 

care.  Go  with  your  four  wives  to  your  Ttfrkish  hell, 
but  don't  contaminate  ours."  And  with  that  she  washed 
her  hands  of  him  altogether. 

A  few  days  later  the  Turk's  ransom  reached  the  hands 
of  Captain  Hommonai,  who  paid  over  the  money  to  Valen- 
tine, and  Achmed  was  sent  off  to  Grosswardein. 

So  Valentine  had  at  last  enough  money  to  carry  out 
what  he  had  so  long  been  brooding  over. 

His  first  step  was  to  beg  Captain  Hommonai  for  a  short 
furlough  for  himself  and  his  comrade  Simplex,  which 
furlough  he  very  easily  obtained,  inasmuch  as  my  lord 
count  was  just  then  in  the  middle  of  his  honeymoon,  and 
therefore  ill  disposed  to  engage  in  martial  feats  for  some 
time  to  come.  The  Turks  also  were  keeping  very  quiet  in 
that  part  of  the  country. 

The  two  hundred  ducats  Valentine  already  had  in  his 
pocket.  All  that  he  now  required  for  his  journey  was  a 
good  cloth  mantle,  a  stout  ax,  a  flask,  and  a  knapsack. 

It  was  also  of  no  small  assistance  to  our  two  honest 
comrades  that  the  general  ordered  the  squadron  of 
cavalry  to  which  they  belonged  to  proceed  to  Onod  (which 
was  half-way  to  Zeb),  for  Valentine  was  thereby  able  to 
conceal  from  his  mother  the  fact  that  he  had  obtained 
leave  of  absence.  So  they  reached  Onod  safely,  and 
thence  made  their  way  across  country  to  seek   Michal. 

Yet  the  prayers  of  Dame  Sarah  were  more  efficacious 

than  the  resolutions  of  the  two  friends,  for  as  they  were 

passing  through  the  Onod  forest,  out  of  the  bushes  sprang 

twelve  of  those  miscreants  who  then  pursued  the  accursed 

trade  of  kidnaping  Christian   men  and  women  in  order 

to  sell  them  to  the  Turks.    Valentine  indeed  made  a  good 

fight  for  it,  and  broke  no  end  of  jaws  and  noses  ;  but  at 

last  he  was  overpowered  by  numbers.     Then  the  robbers 

gagged  him,  and  tied  him  with  his  comrade  to  a  tree,  and 
10 


t44  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

naturally  left  him  very  little  of  the  two  hundred  ducats 
which  they  found  upon  his  person.  Then  they  sep- 
arated to  seek  fresh  booty.  In  the  evening  they  re- 
turned with  a  woman  and  a  young  girl,  and  at  dusk  they 
tied  the  captives  to  their  saddles  and  haled  them  away. 

Thus  Dame  Sarah's  pious  wish  that  her  son  Valentine 
might  light  upon  an  obstacle  which  should  hinder  him  at 
the  very  outset  from  pursuing  his  evil  way,  was  exactly 
fulfilled. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Wherein   is   related  what  very  different  fates  befell  the  two  honest 

comrades. 

The  wicked  kidnapers  took  off  all  their  captives' 
upper  garments,  leaving  them  nothing  but  their  shirts 
and  hose  to  cover  their  limbs  with,  and  drove  them  in 
this  guise  through  all  the  villages  they  came  to. 

The  captive  girl  had  bruised  her  feet  on  the  stony 
ways  so  that  it  was  as  much  as  she  could  do  to  limp 
painfully  along.  Valentine  could  not  bear  to  see  the 
robbers  goading  the  poor  child  on  with  their  whips,  as 
if  she  were  a  brute  beast,  so,  as  if  he  had  not  enough 
wretchedness  of  his  own  to  carry,  he  must  needs  take 
her  on  to  his  shoulders  and  trudge  along  with  her  to 
Eger,  where  they  happened  to  arrive  on  market  day. 
The  slaves  were  driven  straight  to  the  market  place, 
where  a  brisk  traffic  in  oxen,  sheep,  and  buffaloes  was  go- 
ing on,  and  one  of  the  accursed  robbers  blew  a  hoarse, 
squeaking  fife,  to  advertise  his  slaves,  and  after  attract- 
ing a  crowd  around  them,  began  to  praise  their  good 
points  with  a  glib  tongue.  He  called  attention  to  Valen- 
tine's mighty  arms  as  he  stood  there  defiantly  protruding 
his  broad  chest  ;  but  as  for  Simplex,  he  pulled  such 
wretched  faces  and  was  so  doubled  up  by  his  misery, 
that  the  robber  felt  bound  to  flip  him  now  and  then  with 
his  whip  just  to  put  a  little  life  into  him.  The  female 
slaves  were  treated  with  even  less  ceremony,  for  the 
robber  tore  the  very  smocks  from  their  shoulders  to  show 
the  purchasers  how  smooth  their  skins  were. 

I4S 


146  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

First  of  all  the  woman  and  her  little  daughter  were 
sold.  A  Mudir  required  them  both,  so  at  all  events  they 
had  the  consolation  of  each  other's  society. 

Then  there  came  an  under-sized  Turkish  butcher  who 
dealt  in  sheep  flesh,  and  rejoiced  greatly  when  he  learnt 
from  Valentine  that  he  was  a  butcher's  assistant.  He 
did  not  chaffer  very  long  about  him,  but  paid  the  thou- 
sand ducats  which  the  robber  demanded  for  Valentine, 
put  him  in  chains,  and  drove  him  off,  at  the  same  time 
bidding  him  be  of  good  cheer,  as  he  would  be  very  well 
treated,  have  enough  to  eat,  and  when  the  vintage  time 
came,  might  work  in  the  vineyards  in  the  open  air,  and 
have  plenty  of  sour  wine  to  comfort  his  heart  with. 

But  for  Simplex  no  purchaser  could  be  found.  They 
all  looked  at  his  hands,  which  were  quite  smooth  and 
soft,  for  how  could  trumpet  blowing  make  them  hard  ? 
Nobody  would  have  him.  In  vain  did  the  robber  make 
him  dance  at  the  end  of  a  rope  like  a  bear,  and  cry  con- 
tinually : 

"■  Buy  !  buy  !     Who'll  buy  this  giaour  ?  " 

At  last,  finding  that  no  one  would  buy  him,  he  led  him 
to  the  fortress  to  the  pasha.  There  the  Muteshin  came 
to  meet  him,  and  the  robber  said  that  he  had  brought 
him  a  captive  soldier,  for  all  captive  soldiers  had  to  be 
handed  over  to  the  pasha,  who  made  an  immense  profit 
out  of  them  by  buying  them  dirt-cheap  and  then  resell- 
ing them  to  their  friends  at  fancy  prices.  The  Muteshin, 
therefore,  paid  the  robber  forty  ducats  down  for  Simplex, 
one  of  which  the  godless  wretch  gave  to  the  poor  cap- 
tive as  a  sort  of  parting  gift. 

Simplex  was  then  sent  straight  to  the  smithy,  and 
there  such  heavy  fetters  were  fastened  to  his  legs  that  he 
could  scarcely  drag  them  along.  After  that  they  stuck 
him   in  a  subterranean    dungeon,  already   occupied   by 


PRETTY  MTCHAL.  147 

some  fifty  other  persons,  who  said  very  little  to  each 
other,  but  squatted  on  the  floor,  as  near  as  they  could 
get  to  the  narrow,  single  window,  and  carved  pipes, 
plaited  scourges,  or  wove  Turkish  girdles  in  order  to 
earn  a  few  aspers.  Many  of  them,  however,  lay  against 
the  wall  as  if  they  were  sick,  and  these  had  their  feet 
tied  up.  A  barber  came  down  to  them  in  the  morning 
and  evening  to  change  their  bandages,  and  rub  their 
wounded  soles  with  soothing  salves. 

Simplex  asked  them  what  long  journeys  they  had  been 
taking  to  make  the  soles  of  their  feet  so  sore.  One  of 
them  answered  : 

"  Just  wait  a  bit.  It  will  be  your  turn  soon  to  take  the 
same  journey  and  find  out  where  Bambooland  lies." 

And,  indeed,  before  the  week  was  out,  Simplex's  curi- 
osity was  satisfied,  and  he  had  no  need  to  bother  his 
head  about  the  matter  any  more. 

When  his  turn  came  he  was  led  to  the  Kaimakan. 

The  Kaimakan  was  a  fat-faced,  big-bellied  man  who 
loved  his  joke.  He  was  smoking  a  pipe  with  a  very  long 
stem,  and  sat  with  crossed  legs  on  a  bright  carpet. 

He  addressed  Simplex  most  affably,  called  him  "my 
dear  son  !  "  and  asked  whence  he  was,  who  his  relations 
were,  how  much  property  he  had,  and  where  his  estate 
lay. 

Simplex  gave  him  the  same  answer  which  he  had  given 
to  the  robber  captain,  Janko.  He  said  that  he  was  a  poor 
orphan. 

At  this  the  Kaimakan  fairly  screamed  with  laughter. 

"  Ha  !  ha  !  Of  course  !  of  course  !  Just  as  if  you 
had  got  it  all  up.  All  the  lot  of  you  answer  like  that 
when  the  question  is  first  put  to  you.  I  know  !  I  know  ! 
You  have  neither  father  nor  mother,  don't  even  know 
where  you  were  born,  are  as  poor  as  a  church  mouse, 


148  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

carry  your  liouse  on  your  shoulders,  your  bread  in  your 
breast,  and  begging  is  your  trade.  'Tis  the  usual  answer  to 
the  first  question,  but  we'll  now  see  what  you've  got  to 
say  to  the  second  question." 

He  gave  a  nod,  and  four  soldiers  instantly  threw  Sim- 
plex to  the  ground.  Two  of  them  tied  his  feet  together 
and  hoisted  them  up  with  a  cord  till  the  soles  pointed 
heavenwards,  whereupon  the  other  two  so  belabored 
them  with  bamboo  sticks,  that  Simplex,  in  reply  to  the 
continually  reiterated  questions,  confessed  that  he  v/as 
a  prince,  that  his  father  was  the  Doge  of  Venice,  and  his 
godfather  the  King  of  Poland,  and  that  they  would  cer- 
tainly send,  on  application,  his  weight  in  gold  by  way  of 
ransom. 

At  this  the  soles  of  his  feet  were  belabored  still  more 
— poor  Simplex  really  thought  his  last  hour  had  come. 

Then  followed  the  third  examination.  TheKaimakan 
ordered  poor  Simplex's  swollen  and  lacerated  soles  to  be 
well  rubbed  with  soothing  balsam,  told  the  soldiers  to 
give  him  a  cooling  drink,  and  then  began  to  address  him 
still  more  amicably. 

"  Look  now,  my  dear  son  !  Why  talk  such  nonsense  ? 
Why  say  at  one  moment  that  you  are  a  poor  orphan,  and 
the  next  that  you  are  a  prince  ?  Surely  there  must  be 
someone  in  the  wide  world  who  would  give  something 
to  save  your  skin,  some  good  friend  or  other  who  would 
pay  your  ransom  for  you  ?  Just  reflect  a  moment ! 
Surely  we  don't  ask  so  very  much  ?  " 

Then  it  occurred  to  Simplex  that  he  had  one  good 
friend,  only  unfortunately  this  friend  had  also  fallen  into 
captivity  at  Eger,  where  a  butcher  had  purchased  him  ; 
if  he  were  in  a  position  to  buy  his  friend  off  he  would 
certainly  do  so. 

"  Oh,  come,  now  !  there's  sense  in  that.     And  what 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  1 49 

kind  of  master-butcher  is  it,  then,  who  purchased  your 
friend  ?  " 

"  He  has  a  blistered  face." 

Now  as  there  was  no  less  than  thirty  and  three  butchers 
in  Eger  whose  faces  had  all  been  blistered  by  the  fly 
bites  which  are  part  and  parcel  of  their  trade,  the 
Kaimakan  summoned  them  all  to  the  fortress,  so  that 
Simplex  might  pick  out  the  right  one. 

He  selected  Valentine's  master,  Ibrahim. 

The  Kaimakan  ordered  Ibrahim  to  bring  his  slave 
thither  forthwith. 

Worthy  Valentine  was  horrified  when  he  saw  his  poor 
Simplex  in  such  a  condition. 

"  Poor  Simplex  !  in  what  misfortune  have  you  not 
been  plunged  on  my  account  !  I  am  much  better  off,  for 
I  have  a  mild  sort  of  master  who  lets  no  one  beat  me  but 
himself,  and  uses  not  a  stick  but  a  thong  of  hippopot- 
amus leather." 

"  But  why  do  you  endure  it  ?  Why  don't  you  write  to 
your  mother  to  ramsom  you  ?" 

"  I  have  written  to  her  and  prayed  her  to  send  the  ran- 
som for  us  both,  nor  had  I  long  to  wait  for  an  answer. 
She  says  she  is  quite  ready  to  pay  down  the  ransom,  but 
only  on  condition  that  I  henceforth  become  her  slave,  do 
everything  she  commands,  go  nowhither  without  her 
knowledge  and  consent,  never  consort  with  you  again, 
and  utterly  forget  her  whom  I  love  most  of  all  in  the 
world,  otherwise  she'll  leave  me  in  the  hands  of  the 
Turks." 

"  And  what  answer  did  you  make  ?  " 

"  I  wrote  to  her  :  '  God  bless  you,  my  dear  mother, 
but  I  prefer  to  remain  where  I  am,  for  I'll  never  forget 
my  beloved,  even  in  death,  nor  deny  my  faithful  comrade, 
whom  I  have   sworn  to  stand  by  as  long  as  I  live.'  " 


15°  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

"  Bravo,  Valentine  !  "  cried  Simplex  ;  then  snapping 
his  fingers  at  the  Kaimakan,  "your  servant,  Pasha! 
Now  I'll  go  back  to  prison  again.  When  the  soles  of  my 
feet  are  healed,  you  can  begin  the  examination  over 
again,  if  you  like  !  " 

So  Simplex  was  caried  back  to  his  dungeon,  and  there 
he  had  leasure  to  learn  to  make  Turkish  lace  at  an  asper 
an  ell,  and  reflect  what  an  absurd  sort  of  destiny  it  is 
when  a  man  is  beaten  on  the  soles  of  his  feet  because  his 
friend  is  enamored  of  a  woman  who  can  never  be  his. 

Meanwhile  the  wounds  on  the  soles  of  his  feet  began 
to  heal,  but  that  was  no  consolation  to  him,  for  he  had 
been  told  beforehand  that  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  stand 
upright  he  would  again  be  cross-examined.  There  were 
many  among  the  prisoners  who  had  been  tortured  in  this 
way  three  or  four  times.  The  Turks  called  it  "  negotia- 
ting."    He  who  offered  little,  got  much. 

At  last  the  day  arrived  when  he  had  again  to  go  before 
the  Kaimakan.  He  knew  it  twenty-four  hours  in  advance, 
for  the  prisoners  who  were  to  be  examined  got  nothing 
to  eat  the  day  before.  Bamboo  is  less  injurious  when 
taken  on  an   empty  stomach. 

Simplex  was  all  of  a  tremble  when  he  entered  the  ante- 
chamber. The  Kaimakan  was  sitting  on  his  carpet,  and 
on  a  low  table  before  him  steamed  a  dish  of  pilaf,  that  is, 
sheep's  flesh  mixed  with  rice  ;  beside  him  lay  two  bam- 
boo canes. 

"Ah!  Come  hither,  my  son,  and  choose,"  said  the 
Kaimakan  to  the  trembling  wretch,  "  which  you  will  have  : 
this  dish  of  pilaf  or  a  hundred  strokes  on  the  soles  of 
your  feet  with  these  two  bamboos  ?  Don't  tremble,  but 
choose  whichever  you  like.  Here  are  paper,  ink,  and 
pens,  write  me  out  a  receipt.     If  you  want  pilaf,  write 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  151 

that  you  have  received  pilaf ;  but  if  you  choose  stripes, 
acknowledge  that  you've  had  stripes." 

Simplex  did  not  understand  it  at  all.  He  could  not 
see  the  point  of  the  Kainiakan's  joke.  But  he  did  not 
want  the  bastinado  again,  and  the  pilaf  pleasantly  tickled 
his  nostrils.  So  he  did  not  take  long  to  make  up  his  mind, 
but  sat  down  and  consumed  the  pilaf  to  the  very  last  mor- 
sel. It  pleases  the  Turks  when  one  does  not  despise  their 
favorite  dishes.     Simplex  knew  that. 

*'  Now,  my  son,"  said  the  Kaimakan,  when  Simplex  had 
finished,  "  now  write  that  I  have  this  day  regaled  you  with 
pilaf  instead  of  bamboo,  and  address  your  letter  to  your 
dear  comrade,  the  honorable,  noble,  and  valiant  Valentine 
Kalondai,  that  accursed,  unbelieving  dog  who  has  not 
only  freed  himself  from  captivity  without  a  ransom,  but 
has  taken  his  master,  the  sheep  butcher,  along  with  him 
to  Onod,  and  now  he  offers  him  in  exchange  for  you,  and 
threatens  to  requite  his  prisoner  good  or  evil,  according 
as  you  are  treated  here." 

So  Simplex  had  to  testify  in  writing  that  the  Turks  had 
shown  him  all  possible  kindness.  Then  the  fetter  was 
taken  off  one  foot  and  fastened  to  his  girdle  as  a  sign 
that  he  was  half  free  ;  but  he  had  to  go  about  with  the 
chain  on  the  other  foot  till  his  good  friend  came  to  take 
it  off. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  story  now  to  be  related  .very  much  resembles  the  story  of  Joseph 
and  Potiphar,  but  not  quite,  inasmuch  as  it  is  not  Joseph,  but 
Potiphar,  who  is  finally  cast  into  prison. 

It  will  be  worth  the  trouble  to  listen  how  Valentine  es- 
caped from  captivity.  It  is  a  wondrous  story,  though 
perfectly  true,  for  Simplex  records  it  in  his  memoirs. 

Valentine's  master,  the  mutton  salesman,  had  a  beauti- 
ful vineyard,  and  in  the  vineyard  a  pretty  wooden  hut 
which,  being  a  Turk,  he  called  his  kiosk. 

As  the  vintage  time  drew  near,  the  Turk  went  every 
day  into  his  vineyard,  and  made  his  slave  accompany  him. 

The  rain  had  very  much  damaged  the  garden  paths, 
and  he  was  anxious  to  have  them  put  right  again.  He 
dare  not  trust  the  work  to  an  ordinary  day  laborer,  as 
such  people  generally  require  to  be  paid  and  eat  the  grapes 
as  well  ;  but  his  slave  he  could  command  to  work  for 
nothing,  and  let  him  touch  a  single  berry  if  he  dared  ! 
And  at  the  end  of  every  day's  work  he  said  to  him  : 
"  Show  me  your  tongue  !  "  for  the  Eger  grapes  are  so 
black  that  they  dye  the  tongues  of  those  who  eat  of  them. 
Poor  Valentine  was  often  sick  with  longing,  as  he  stood 
breaking  stones  in  the  melting  heat  with  thousands  of 
lovely  grapes  smiling  on  every  side  of  him,  and  he  was 
unable  to  pluck  one  of  them  ! 

Meanwhile  his  master  would  be  sitting  in  the  kiosk,  and 
as  the  Turks  are  forbidden  by  their  religion  to  drink  wine 
publicly,  he  only  drank  on  the  sly,  with  not  a  human  soul 
to  keep  him  company. 

15» 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  153 

Now  the  Turk  had  a  very  beautiful  slave,  or  wife,  which 
with  the  Moslems  is  pretty  much  the  same  thing.  She 
was  called  Jigerdilla,  which  signifies  "the  piercer  of 
hearts."  She  was  a  Circassian.  He  had  purchased  her 
at  Buda  from  a  slave-dealer  who  had  brought  a  whole 
shipload  of  female  slaves  from  Stamboul.  The  only  dif- 
ference between  a  wife  and  a  slave  is  that  the  slave  works, 
the  wife  doesn't ;  Jigerdilla  did  not  work. 

The  Turkish  damsel  had,  from  the  very  first,  taken  a 
fancy  to  the  handsome,  stately  Hungarian  whom  her  hus- 
band had  brought  into  the  house  as  a  slave  ;  but  it  was 
impossible  to  begin  to  intrigue  with  him  there,  because 
too  many  eyes  were  on  the  watch.  But  whenever  she 
followed  her  husband  into  the  vineyard,  she  could  speak 
more  freely  with  Valentine,  especially  when  the  meat 
seller  had  so  well  applied  himself  to  the  good  red  wine 
that  they  had  to  prop  him  up  between  them  all  the  way. 

Kermes  Ibrahim — the  butcher  was  called  Kermes 
from  his  red  beard — used  sometimes  bid  his  slave  sing 
while  he  worked,  not  only  because  singing  makes  a  man 
work  lustily,  but  also,  and  especially,  because  he  would 
thereby  be  preserved  from  the  temptation  of  plucking  the 
grapes.     No  man  can  sing  and  eat  at  the  same  time. 

Sometimes,  when  Ibrahim  was  overpowered  by  sleep 
and  lay  stretched  out  full  length  on  his  carpet,  Jigerdilla 
would  join  in  Valentine's  songs,  and  it  is  no  small  en- 
couragement on  a  lady's  part  when  she  accompanies  a 
gentleman's  song  with  her  own  voice. 

But  as  soon  as  Jigerdilla  began  to  accompany  his 
songs,  Valentine  stopped  short. 

"  Why  do  you  leave  off  ? "  she  asked  him. 

"  Because  you've  begun,  and  I'm  afraid  you'll  awaken 
Ibrahim,  and  he'll  beat  me  for  it." 

*'  Fear   nothing  !      Ibrahim  sleeps  soundly.      I  have 


154  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

mixed  opium  with  his  tobacco.  If  you  fired  off  cannons 
close  to  his  ear  he  would  not  awake.  We  might  kiss 
each  other  over  his  body,  and  still  he  would  not  awake." 

Valentine  made  as  though  he  did  not  understand. 

Then  Jigerdilla  began  to  sing  a  popular  ballad  all 
about  love.  Even  in  those  times  such  ditties  used  to  be 
sung,  but  on  the  sly,  in  the  woods  or  the  meadows  ;  for 
within  the  walled  cities  the  clergy  forbade  them, 
preached  whole  series  of  sermons  against  them,  called 
them  "  flower  songs,"  said  that  they  only  served  to  cor- 
rupt good  manners. 

And  it  certainly  is  very  strange  what  liberties  are 
taken  in  singing.  If  a  gentleman  said  to  a  pretty  woman 
in  simple  prose,  "  My  dear,  prithee  give  me  a  couple  of 
kisses  !  "  she  would,  there  and  then,  give  him  an  answer 
with  her  hand  which  would  make  his  eyes  flash  fire  ;  but 
if  he  sang  the  self-same  sentence  in  an  elegant  manner, 
the  lady  would  forthwith  sit  her  down  at  the  piano  and 
play  the  accompaniment.  And,  again,  if  a  pretty  woman 
were  to  say  to  a  gentleman,  in  the  presence  of  her  husband, 
"  Taste  and  see  how  sweet  my  kiss  is  !  "  the  husband 
would  instantly  cry  vengeance,  and  send  for  sword  and 
pistols  ;  but  when  madame  sings  the  same  words  in  a 
fine  soprano  voice  before  a  whole  roomful  of  people, 
the  husband  himself  is  the  first  to  applaud  and  cry,  "Da 
capo  !  " 

And  Jigerdilla  could  sing  those  enticing  songs  so 
seductively  that  it  was  impossible  to  listen  to  her  and  re- 
main cold. 

But  Valentine  manfully  hardened  his  heart,  and  would 
not  accompany  her. 

"Can't  you  sing  these  songs,  then?"  asked  Jigerdilla 
derisively. 

"  I  know  one  or  two  of  them,  and  have  sung  them  quite 

\ 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  I55 

often  enough.  It  was  for  nothing  but  that  that  I  was  ex- 
pelled from  college.  But  I  have  vowed  that  not  a  single 
flower  song  shall  cross  my  lips  so  long  as  lam  in  captiv- 
ity." 

The  'turk  had  in  his  garden  a  fine  and  costly  plum 
tree,  and  in  those  days  plum  trees  were  accounted  curi- 
osities. The  fruit  upon  it  was  round  and  red  as  arose. 
Gardeners  call  thembonameras. 

Ibrahim  was  proud  of  this  tree.  He  had  told  Valen- 
tine beforehand,  that  if  he  dared  to  pluck  a  single  plum, 
he  would  break  every  bone  in  his  body.  He  had  destined 
all  the  fruit  for  the  table  of  the  pasha. 

One  afternoon,  Jigerdilla  again  accompanied  her  lord 
into  the  garden.  She  again  mingled  opium  with  his  to- 
bacco so  as  to  make  him  dead-drunk,  and  then,  as  Valen- 
tine still  refused  to  sing  a  flower  song  with  her,  she  threw 
herself  on  the  grass  in  a  pet,  and  pretended  to  fall 
asleep. 

The  sun  was  shining  fiercely,  and  so  great  was  Valen- 
tine's thirst  that  his  tongue  cleaved  to  the  very  roof  of 
his  mouth.  The  grapes  he  dare  not  touch,  for  their 
juice  left  a  black  stain  behind  it,  but  the  rosy  red  plums 
smiled  at  him  so  enticingly.  They,  at  any  rate,  were 
not  numbered.  So  fancying  that  no  one  saw  him,  he 
ventured  to  steal  up  to  the  tree,  drew  down  a  branch, 
and  ate  of  the  plums  that  were  reserved  for  the  pasha's 
table. 

"  The  pasha  would  get  the  fever  if  he  ate  so  many. 
Why  should  he  have  them  all  ? " 

Suddenly  he  heard  behind  him  a  mocking  peal  of 
laughter — Jigerdilla  had  been  on  the  watch  all  the  time 
— and  in  his  terror  he  started  back  so  violently,  that  he 
snapped  off  the  branch  of  the  plum  tree  which  he  had 
pulled  down  toward  him. 


156  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

"  Ha,  ha,  Valentine  !  Now  you  can  look  forward  to 
something  pleasant." 

Back  he  went  to  his  work  very  much  ashamed,  and  he 
now  worked  with  such  zeal  that  he  finished  in  one  hour 
what  it  usually  took  him  two  to  do.  But  Jigerdillagave 
him  no  peace.  She  made  ribald  songs  upon  him,  pelted 
him  with  green  nuts,  and  mocked  him  in  all  sorts  of  ways. 

And  Valentine  felt  just  like  a  child  who  has  been 
naughty  and  expects  to  be  beaten  for  it.  The  Turk  had 
often  said  that  he  would  not  give  a  branch  of  this  tree 
for  a  hundred  denarii.  How  many  blows  with  a  whip 
would  he  reckon  to  a  denarius  ? 

When  it  was  evening  the  butcher  awoke.  He  fell  to 
drinking  again,  and  he  drank  so  much  that  his  wife  and 
his  slave  had  to  prop  him  up  on  his  way  back  to  the  house. 

As  he  passed  by  the  bonamera  tree,  he  perceived  that 
a  branch  had  been  broken  off. 

At  this  sight  he  immediately  became  quite  sober. 

"  Who  did  that  ?  "  he  roared,  tearing  his  whip  from  his 
girdle,  while  his  eyes  rolled  about  as  if  he  were  the 
brother  of  the  hippopotamus  whose  hide  had  supplied 
the  lashes  of  his  whip. 

But  before  Valentine  could  say  a  word,  Jigerdilla  had 
already  exclaimed  : 

"  I  did  it.  What  does  it  matter  if  there  be  one  paltry 
branch  more  or  less  ?  " 

The  only  misfortune  which  happened  in  consequence 
was  this  :  Ibrahim  raised  his  whip  without  more  ado,  and 
belabored  the  back  of  his  dear  wife  with  the  full  force  of 
his  fury,  and  perhaps  he  would  have  flayed  her  from 
her  head  to  her  heels  had  he  not  accidently  stumbled 
and  fallen  on  his  nose,  when  the  blood  spurted  out  so 
violently  that  he  had  enough  to  do  to  stop  it  till  he  got 
home. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  15«> 

But  in  the  meantime,  Jigerdilla  had  endured  sufficient 
stripes  to  convince  Valentine  that  hot  indeed  must  be  the 
passion  felt  for  him  by  this  woman,  who  was  ready  to 
take  a  slave's  fault  on  her  own  shoulders,  and  suffer  the 
punishment  which  ought  to  have  been  his. 

At  noon,  next  day,  all  three  went  into  the  vineyard  to- 
gether. 

When  Ibrahim  had  gone  to  sleep  as  usual,  Jigerdilla 
called  Valentine  to  her. 

**  I  still  feel  sore  from  yesterday's  stripes,"  she  said. 
Then  she  gave  him  a  silver  box  of  ointment. 

"I  can't  reach  the  wounds  on  my  shoulder.  Rub  them 
for  me  with  this  balsam." 

With  that  she  let  her  dress  glide  down  over  her 
shoulders  so  that  Valentine  could  see  her  naked,  snow- 
white  neck  and  back  ;  but  he  also  saw  great  red  wheels, 
as  thick  as  his  finger,  stretching  right  across  the  velvety 
skin. 

Valentine  rubbed  them  well  with  the  fragrant  balsam, 
and  then  asked  Jigerdilla  if  her  wounds  felt  a  little  easier. 

'*  I  should  get  well  much  more  quickly  if  only  you 
would  kiss  them  !  " 

Valentine  recoiled  at  these  words. 

"  How  should  I  kiss  the  shoulders  of  a  strange  woman 
who  is  also  my  master's  wife  ?  " 

"Your  master  is  sleeping,  he  sees  nothing." 

"  But  God  sees." 

The  Turkish  lady  looked  around  in  astonishment. 

"  I  see  no  one  !  " 

"  God  is  present  everywhere,  though  invisible." 

"  If  He  is  invisible.  His  whip  must  also  be  invisible, 
and  He  therefore  cannot  beat  me  with  it." 

"  Nay,  but  His  invisible  whip  can  beat  right  sorely. 
Look  at  nie  !     I  have  not  done  but  only  thought  of  doing 


158  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

something  which  God  forbids,  and  for  that  one  sin  I  now 
bear  these  fetters." 

"  I  would  take  off  your  chains  every  night.  I  know 
where  Ibrahim  keeps  the  keys  of  them — in  his  girdle. 
You  shall  only  be  a  slave  by  day.  At  night  you  shall  be 
free,  and  the  ransom  would  not  be  dear,  we  could  easily 
agree  about  it ;  you  could  pay  it  off  in  kisses." 

"But  that  would  be  a  sin  before  God  !  " 

"  How  can  it  offend  God  if  a  man  kisses  a  woman  ?  " 

"Because  that  would  be  breaking  His  commandment, 
which  forbids  a  man  to  lust  after  that  which  belongs  to 
another." 

"  Come  now,  tell  me  !  "  cried  Jigerdilla,  suddenly 
giving  another  turn  to  the  conversation,  "  how  could  you 
quietly  look  on  yesterday,  while  Ibrahim  whipped  me  in- 
stead of  you  ?  Why  did  you  not  seize  his  arm  and  confess 
that  it  was  you  who  did  the  mischief  ? " 

"  I'll  tell  you  why.  I  did  not  keep  silence  for  fear  of 
the  blows,  but  because  I  was  afraid  that  Ibrahim  would 
have  killed  you  if  I  had  told  the  truth." 

"  And  what  made  you  fear  that  Ibrahim  would  have 
killed  me  ?  " 

"  Because  you  took  my  fault  on  your  shoulders." 

"And  what  conclusion  could  Ibrahim  draw  from 
that  ? " 

But  this  Valentine  would  not  tell  her. 

Jigerdilla,  however,  helped  him  out. 

"He  might  have  thought,"  continued  she,  "that  I 
belong  more  to  you  than  to  him.  And  why,  indeed, 
might  I  not  belong  wholly  to  you  ?  " 

"  Because  you  are  his." 

"It  is  true.     He  bought  me  for  five  hundred  ducats  ; 
but  if  you  gave  him  one  thousand  ducats  for  me  he 


PRETTY  MIC  HAL.  159 

would  hand  me  over  to  you,  for  he  is  greedy,  and  fond 
of  money." 

Valentuie  laughed  heartily  at  these  words. 

"Whence  would  a  poor  devil  like  me  get  one  thou- 
sand ducats  V 

"Wait  a  bit,  and  I'll  tell  you  something  which  I've 
never  told  to  anybody  else.  Sit  down  by  me  !  Nay  ! 
sit  so  that  you  can  look  into  my  eyes.  When  Ibrahim 
bought  this  vineyard,  the  kiosk  already  stood  there,  and 
in  the  kiosk  was  an  oven.  During  vintage  time,  Ibra- 
him often  took  it  into  his  head  to  sleep  in  the  open  air, 
and  I  had  to  bake  bread  for  him.  Once,  as  I  was  tak- 
ing the  loaves  out  of  the  oven,  I  found  a  ducat  sticking 
to  one  of  them.  I  said  nothing  about  it,  but  waited  till 
it  was  night,  when  I  took  up  a  knife  and  ripped  up  the 
floor  of  the  oven.  The  whole  of  the  underlying  mortar 
was  full  of  ducats.  I  suppose  that  when  the  town  was 
taken  by  the  Turks,  some  rich  proprietor  or  other  hid 
them  there,  and  afterward  perished  in  the  war.  I  did 
not  take  away  the  treasure,  but  left  it  there,  spread 
fresh  mortar  over  it,  and  made  a  fire  upon  it  to  burn  the 
mortar  hard.  The  treasure  is  there  now.  I  said  noth- 
ing to  Ibrahim  about  it,  for  if  he  got  the  money  he 
would  only  drink  the  more  and  beat  me  oftener  ;  nay, 
he  would  bring  fresh  wives  into  the  house,  and  I  should 
have  trouble  and  strife  enough.  So  I'll  give  the  whole 
treasure  to  you.  You  can  then  ransom  yourself  and 
purchase  me,  and  you'll  have  enough  left  for  both  of  us 
to  live  comfortably  together." 

Valentine  was  in  a  sad  difficulty.  What  was  he  to 
do?  Fate  gave  him  the  chance  of  securing  a  pretty 
woman  and  a  lot  of  money  besides.  At  last  he  sum- 
moned his  religion  to  his  assistance. 

11 


i6o  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

"It  is  impossible,  my  good  lady,"  said  he  apolo- 
getically ;  "the  men  of  my  faith  do  not  buy  women  with 
money.  No,  our  women,  following  the  bent  of  their 
hearts,  freely  give  their  hands  to  the  men  of  their  own 
choice.  And  the  men  who  marry  them  pay  them  for 
their  devotion,  not  with  gifts  and  gold,  but  with  equal 
devotion  and  sympathy." 

At  these  words  Jigerdilla  smote  her  hands  together. 

"Then  your  religion  will  suit  me  very  well.  If  in 
your  country  such  things  are  not  matters  of  cash  and 
barter,  but  free-will  offerings,  that  is  just  what  I  should 
like.  I'll  follow  you  of  my  own  free  will.  I'll  fly  with 
you,  learn  to  know  your  Ged,  go  to  your  church,  and 
take  in  baptism  whatever  name  you  like  to  give  me." 

Valentine  ought  to  have  found  the  offer  very  tempt- 
ing. Had  Dame  Sarah  been  at  his  side  she  would  cer- 
tainly have  said  : 

"  Look,  my  son,  now  you've  got  fortune  by  the  fore- 
lock, hold  on  fast  with  both  hands  and  never  let 
go  again.  You'll  get  a  wondrously  beautiful  young 
woman,  with  large  black  eyes  and  a  small  red  mouth, 
and  a  whole  oven  full  of  ducats  besides  ;  and  (which  is 
the  main  thing  after  all)  you'll  be  saving  an  erring,  un- 
believing soul  for  an  eternal  salvation,  and  will  thus 
obtain  for  yourself  a  claim  upon  Paradise."  And  it 
would  have  been  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  to 
have  thought  so. 

But  Valentine  was  very  far  indeed  from  thinking  so. 
So  long  as  the  image  of  Michal  lived  in  his  heart,  he 
saw  in  every  other  woman,  however  beautiful,  only  an 
evil  spirit  of  temptation  to  which  one  has  only  to  say, 
"  Depart  hence  !  "  and  it  will  instantly  vanish  into  the 
air. 

He  loved  another. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  l6l 

But  he  did  not  tell  Jigerdilla  so. 

Instead  of  that  he  pulled  a  very  wry  face,  bowed  him- 
self humbly,  and  said  : 

"  How  could  I  be  such  a  villain  as  to  seduce  my 
master's  wife  ? " 

At  this,  Jigerdilla,  fairly  beside  herself  with  rage,  tore 
off  her  slipper,  struck  Valentine  in  the  face,  and  cried  : 

"  Be  off,  slave  !  Take  your  spade  and  set  about  your 
work  ! " 

Then  she  covered  herself  once  more  with  her  veil 
that  the  bumpkin  might  not  see  her  face  again,  and  her 
contempt  for  him  was  so  great  that  she  did  not  even 
think  it  worth  while  to  fear  that  the  craven  would  abuse 
the  secret  that  he  had  learnt,  "  He  who  dare  not  touch 
his  master's  wife  will  certainly  never  dare  to  lay  a  hand 
on  his  master's  treasure." 

Then,  with  a  good  deal  of  unnecessary  bustle,  she 
bounced  out  of  the  vineyard,  first  stopping  to  bestow  on 
the  slumbering  Ibrahim  a  kick  sufi&ciently  vicious  to 
awaken  him. 

The  Turk,  thus  roughly  aroused  from  his  narcotic 
sleep,  began  first  of  all  to  throw  his  arms  and  legs 
about ;  then  he  revolved  five  or  six  times  on  his  axis, 
and  finally  rolled  over  a  little  hillock  into  the  garden 
below.  There  he  lay  for  some  time,  dreaming  on  with 
wide-open  eyes  and  addressing  the  paradisaical  shapes 
which  the  opium  had  conjured  up  before  him.  Then  he 
stared  blankly  into  the  world  around  him  ;  began  blink- 
ing with  hiseyes-and  plunging  with  his  knees,  and  at  last 
raised  himself  on  his  elbows  and  bellowed  for  his  slave. 

Valentine  hastened  up  to  him. 

"  Where  is  my  wife  ?  " 

"  Am  I  your  wife's  keeper  ?  Perhaps  she  has  gone 
home." 


1 62  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

"I  dreamt  that  she  had  been  nibbling  again  at  my 
plums.  These  women  are  so  greedy.  But  I  know  that 
you,  Valentine,  have  not  eaten  of  my  plums.  Nor  shall 
you  do  so,  you  dog!  These  plums  are  like  the  fruit  of 
the  tuba  tree  which  stands  in  Paradise,  and  which  you 
can  never  t^ste,  you  giaour,  you  swine,  you  !  What 
have  you  done  with  my  wife?  It  would  be  as  well  if  I 
plucked  all  these  plums  and  sent  them  to  the  pasha. 
What  do  you  think  he'll  give  me  for  them  ?  Do  you 
think  that  I  can  climb  up  that  tree  ?  What !  I  tell  you  I 
can  fly  up  it  like  a  squirrel." 

Opium  smokers  in  their  drunken  reveries  always 
fancy  themselves  strong  and  agile.  Yet  the  worthy  man 
could  not  stand,  much  less  fly. 

So  Valentine  helped  Ibrahim  to  climb  the  plum  tree. 
The  Turk  was  determined  to  pluck  every  one  of  the 
plums  himself  ;  the  hand  of  a  slave  should  never  profane 
the  dessert  of  the  pasha. 

And  the  poor  slave  was  all  the  time  thinking  to  him- 
self that  when  he  got  home  with  his  lord,  Jigerdilla 
would  treat  him  exactly  as  Potiphar's  wife  treated 
Joseph.  A  woman  has  no  need  to  betake  herself  to  the 
Old  Testament  to  learn  how  to  avenge  herself  on  the 
man  who  has  slighted  her  advances. 

She  will  certainly  get  him  beaten  to  death  by  her 
husband. 

And  to  make  the  resemblance  between  the  two  cases 
more  complete,  there  was  a  vision  to  be  interpreted. 

"  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  dreams  I've  just  been 
dreaming?"  growled  Ibrahim,  in  the  tree.  "I  dreamt 
that  a  hen  pounced  down  upon  an  eagle  and  flew  away 
with  him — not  the  eagle  with  the  hen,  but  the  hen  with 
the  eagle." 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  163 

"Just  you  come  down  from  that  tree  and  I'll  let  you 
know  all  about  it,"  thought  Valentine  to  himself,  and 
while  Ibrahim  was  plucking  the  plums,  he  took  out  of  his 
master's  discarded  girdle  the  key  of  his  own  fetters  and 
quickly  freed  his  feet.  Then  he  planted  himself  close 
beside  the  tree. 

Ibrahim  was  so  busily  engaged  in  plucking  his  fruit, 
and  so  lost  in  admiration  at  his  beautiful  bonameras, 
that  it  quite  escaped  him  that  the  sun  was  going  down, 
and  that  they  had  begun  to  sound  the  retreat  in  the 
fortress.  Now  this  signified  that  everyone  was  to  leave 
off  laboring  in  his  field  or  vineyard,  for  at  the  third 
signal  the  gates  were  closed,  and  whoever  then  remained 
outside  had  to  stay  there  all  night.  Only  at  the  third 
signal  did  Kermes  reflect  that  it  was  growing  late,  and 
begin  to  climb  down  from  the  plum  tree.  First  he 
handed  to  Valentine  the  basket-load  of  bonameras,  and 
then  he  slowly  began  to  let  himself  down,  and  begged 
his  slave  to  help  him. 

And  Valentine  did  help  him,  for  just  when  Ibrahim 
was  hanging  with  both  hands  to  a  branch  between  heaven 
and  earth,  Valentine  threw  the  basket  at  him,  plums  and 
all,  tore  him  to  the  ground,  bound  his  hands  to  his  back, 
and' kicked  him  into  the  kiosk.  The  neighbors  observed 
nothing  of  all  this,  for  the}'  were  much  too  intent  upon 
getting  to  the  town  themselves  before  the  gates  were 
closed,  to  notice  what  others  were  doing. 

Valentine  next  locked  the  door  of  the  kiosk  and  set 
about  tearing  up  the  mortar  flooring. 

Jigerdilla  had  spoken  truly  ;  there  was  no  lack  of 
ducats.  Valentine  did  not  let  the  opportunity  escape 
him,  but  swept  all  the  gold  pieces  together  and  put  them 
into  Ibrahim's  knapsack.     Then  he  donned  the  Turk's 


t64  pretty  MICHAL. 

kaftan,  turban,  and  girdle,  compelling  him  to  put  on  his 
awn  slave's  clothes  ;  and  when  it  grew  dusk,  he  threw  a 
rope  round  his  neck,  and  said  to  him  : 

"  Now  we  are  going  to  Onod,  and  if  3^ou  dare  to  utter 
a  word  by  the  way,  I'll  break  your  own  ax  to  pieces 
over  your  bald  pate  !  "  And  as  Ibrahim  Kermes  was 
very  anxious  about  his  beautiful  ax,  and  still  more  so 
about  his  skull,  he  allowed  himself,  with  true  Moham- 
medan resignation,  to  be  driven  through  the  alley  be- 
tween the  vineyards  into  the  wood  and  from  thence  into 
the  next  village.  There  Valentine  hired  from  the 
Christian  magistrate  a  four-horse  wagon,  and  drove  with 
his  captive  master  to  Onod,  where  he  arrived  early  next 
morning  safe  and  sound. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

In  which  is  a  very  circumstantial,  if  not  very  pleasant,  description  of 
all  the  conditions  to  be  observed  in  the  exchange  and  purchase  of 
slaves. 

On  arriving  at  the  fortress  of  Onod,  Valentine  at  once 
handed  over  his  prisoner  and  the  money  he  had  brought 
with  him  (of  course  deducting  the  two  hundred  ducats 
which  the  robbers  had  taken  away  from  him)  to  the 
Commandant  of  the  fortress,  that  he  might  ransom  there- 
with the  persons  who  were  languishing  in  the  dungeons 
of  Eger,  and  especially  the  woman  and  child  who  had 
been  abducted  with  him  and  sold  at  the  Eger  cattle 
market.  As  for  the  imprisoned  butcher,  he  proposed  to 
exchange  him  for  the  field-trumpeter.  Simplex. 

By  this  noble  deed  Valentine  so  completely  won  the 
hearts  of  the  brave  warriors  of  Onod,  that  they  made 
him  a  corporal  on  the  spot.  Moreover,  the  liberated 
lady  also  visited  him  with  her  daughter,  expressed  her 
thanks  by  kissing  his  hands  and  embracing  his  feet,  in- 
formed him  that  she  was  a  rich  proprietress,  and  insisted 
upon  giving  him  her  daughter  to  wife  as  soon  as  she  had 
reached  maturity,  the  young  lady  at  present  being  only 
twelve  years  of  age. 

Valentine  thanked  her  for  her  offer,  but  begged  her 
to  bring  up  her  daughter  for  some  other  more  fortunate 
mortal.  Who  could  tell  where  his  bones  might  be  bleach, 
ing  in  five  or  six  years'  time  ? 

It  was  only  pretty  Michal  that  he  had  always  in  his 
thoughts. 

i6s 


1 66  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

He  could  scarcely  wait  for  Simplex  to  appear,  so  im- 
patient was  he  to  set  out  with  him  to  discover  Michal. 

But  the  ransom  of  the  prisoners  did  not  go  off  so 
smoothly  after  all.  The  Kaimakan  of  Eger  wrote  to  the 
Commandant  of  Onod  that  he  did  not  consider  the  Eger 
butcher  worth  four  hundred  gulden,  the  amount  of  the 
trumpeter's  ransom.  There  were  still  two  and  thirty 
butchers  at  Eger,  and  therefore  he  would  not  give  more 
than  two  hundred  gulden  for  this  particular  butcher.  If 
the  other  two  hundred  gulden  were  not  paid  in  cash,  the 
whole  of  the  Christian  prisoners  at  Eger  should  suffer 
for  it  on  the  soles  of  their  feet.  Annexed  to  the  Kai- 
makan's  letter  was  a  heart-rending  petition  from  the 
Christian  prisoners,  in  which  they  implored  the  Com- 
mandant to  fulfill  the  desire  of  the  Kaimakan  for  their 
sakes. 

The  Commandant  of  Onod  thereupon  fetched  out  of 
prison  the  six  and  twenty  Turks  who  were  in  captivity 
there,  and  made  them  address  a  solemn  memorial  to  the 
Kaimakan  of  Eger,  whom  they  piteously  besought  not 
to  bastinado  the  Christian  captives,  as  in  such  a  case 
they,  the  Turkish  captives,  would  be  visited  with  still 
more  grievous  torments. 

The  principal  sufferers,  however,  were  the  two 
prisoners  who  were  to  be  exchanged,  and  from  whom 
both  sides  tried  to  extort  as  much  as  possible,  so  that  in 
their  mutual  distress  they  grew  quite  fond  of  each  other. 

At  last  Valentine  sent  the  extra  two  hundred  gulden, 
and  both  Simplex  and  the  Turkish  butcher  were  escorted 
to  Eger  with  fetters  on  only  one  leg.  There  the  Kai- 
makan received  his  gold  and  the  butcher  his  wife.  Ibra- 
him Kermes  celebrated  his  liberation  with  a  banquet,  to 
which  Simplex  was  also  invited,  and  regaled  with  mutton 
in  twelve  different  editions.     Finally,  Ibrahim  presented 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  167 

him  with  a  pair  of  red  morocco  slippers,  while  Jigerdilla 
sent  Valentine  a  couple  of  superfine  laced  pocket-hand- 
kerchiefs, with  initials  embroidered  in  the  four  corners 
in  Turkish  letters,  and  wet  with  the  tears  from  her  lovely 
eyes  at  the  recollection  of  him. 

But  Ibrahim  Kermes  swore  by  the  beard  of  the 
Prophet  that  he  would  never  again  buy  a  Calvinist 
giaour  as  a  slave,  even  if  he  could  get  him  for  a  single 
denarius. 

And  now,  after  all  this,  it  is  high  time  that  Valentine 
set  out  to  seek  his  unhappy  Michal. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Is  full  of  good  tidings,  inasmuch  as  it  treats  of  the  discomfiture  of 

evil-doers. 

Simplex  had  quite  won  Valentine's  heart  by  warning 
him  of  the  dangers  threatening  his  sweetheart  which  he 
had  overheard  in  the  robber's  camp.  It  is  true  he  did 
not  tell  him  the  whole  truth  for  fear  of  frightening  him 
too  much,  or  even  making  him  lose  courage  altogether. 
But  so  much  he  did  tell  him  :  that  Catsrider,  instead  of 
taking  his  Michal  to  the  parsonage  which,  as  a  curer  of 
souls,  he  ought  to  have  occupied,  had  remained  in  his 
father's  house,  where  they  had  treated  Michal  very  cruelly. 
But  he  added  that,  sooner  or  later,  the  robbers  would  de- 
stroy the  house,  and  then  Michal  had  a  most  terrible  fate 
to  expect. 

"  What  shall  I  do  ?  Merciful  Heaven,  what  shall  I  do  ? " 
groaned  poor  Valentine. 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  said  Simplex,  "  what  you  have  to  do 
is  perfectly  plain.  You  must  carry  off  your  beloved  from 
the  place  at  once." 

"  But  that  would  be  a  sin  against  God." 

"Yet  you'll  do  it  all  same.  Just  you  come  along  with 
me.  One  word  with  her,  one  look  at  her,  and  I'm  sure 
you'll  do  what  I've  said." 

"  God  preserve  me  from  so  great  a  sin." 

"  Now  just  listen  to  me.     I'm  a  Lutheran.     I  don't  be- 
lieve in  predestination.     But  you  are  a  Calvinist.     You 
are  bound  to  believe  in  it.     You  know  for  certain  that 
everything  which  happens,  or  may  happen  to  you,  is  al- 
ias 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  169 

ready  recorded  in  a  great  book  which  has  been  written 
before  the  beginning  of  the  world.  Your  will  can  alter 
nothing  therein,  and  if  it  is  recorded  of  you  that  you  must 
die  on  the  top  of  a  mountain,  and  you  don't  go  up  the  moun- 
tain, the  summit  will  come  down  to  you  and  place  itself 
beneath  your  feet.  I  say  you  have  only  got  to  take  the 
first  step,  and  all  the  other  steps  will  follow  as  a  matter 
of  course.  If  you  resolve  to  see  your  beloved,  you  will 
never  leave  her  again,  but  will  bring  her  back  with  you, 
though  you  walked  in  the  shadow  of  the  gallows  all  the 
way  along.  If  all  this  had  not  been  preordained,  you 
would  have  remained  at  home  and  married  Kitty  Fur- 
mender." 

They  were  discoursing  thus  as  they  proceeded  along 
the  highway,  provided  this  time  with  such  good  weapons 
that  not  every  kidnaper  of  slaves  would  have  cared  to 
attack  them.  But  as  far  as  these  waylayers  were  con- 
cerned, they  felt  themselves  pretty  safe,  for  they  had 
chosen  not  the  Kassa  road  but  the  Gauz  road,  and  such 
abductors  very  seldom  ventured  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Hernad,  because  the  river  is  liable  to  overflow,  and  thus 
often  prevents  them  from  escaping  when  hard  pressed  by 
pursuers. 

What  our  wanderers  really  had  to  fear  were  the  ordinary 
robber  bands  who  terrorized  those  regions,  and  whose 
exact  whereabouts  could  only  be  learnt  by  experience  ; 
for  these  bandits  were  here,  there,  and  everywhere,  and 
very  often  broke  into  Poland,  where  they  were  naturally 
as  welcome  guests  as  here  in  Transylvania. 

Simplex  undertook  to  find  out  all  about  the  robbers 
from  the  frequenters  of  the  fairs,  who  were  generally  best 
informed  on  the  subject.  His  friend  he  left  at  an  inn  in 
the  meantime. 

When  he  returned,  his  face  was  beaming  with  joy. 


y 


I70  PRETTY  MIC  HAL. 

"Didn't  I  say  that  we  were  Fortune's  own  children? 
Didn't  you  come  into  the  world  in  a  caul,  Valentine  ? 
The  town  is  full  of  joy.  All  three  robber  bands  have 
been  captured.  They  fell  into  an  ambuscade  while  on 
their  way  to  plunder  the  Iglo  fair.  Three  counties  and 
the  Imperial  soldiers  were  banded  together  for  the  oc- 
casion. They  drove  them  out  of  their  rocky  lairs,  oc- 
cupied every  point  of  exit,  and  at  last  the  robbers  ran 
short  of  powder,  and  all  who  had  not  already  fallen  sur- 
rendered. The  haughty  Hafran  and  the  cruel  Bajus 
were  taken  alive.  Their  comrades,  to  obtain  a  pardon, 
delivered  them  up  bound  hand  and  foot.  But  most 
wonderful  of  all  is  Janko's  story.  It  was  I  who  con- 
tributed to  his  overthrow.  The  pursuers  were  unable  to 
lay  hands  upon  him,  for  when  he  saw  himself  abandoned 
by  his  own  people  and  surrounded  on  every  side,  he  cut 
down  a  pine  tree  and  glided  with  it  over  a  rocky  preci- 
pice ;  then  he  climbed  up  another  steep  rock  like  a  wild 
cat,  so  that  no  one  could  come  up  with  him.  Yet  he  was 
taken  after  all,  and  he  has  a  woman  to  thank  for  it.  He 
had  sent  a  message  through  me  to  the  wife  of  the  kopanit- 
schar  of  Hamar  (and  I  passed  it  on  to  an  oil  merchant) 
that  she  should  treat  him  friendly  when  he  next  came  to 
her,  but  that  her  husband  should  not  show  his  face  at  all. 
Now,  when  he  saw  himself  so  hotly  pursued,  Janko  fled 
straight  to  the  kopanitschar's  wife,  who  is  his  sweetheart. 
The  woman  received  him  with  open  arms,  made  him  a 
great  feast,  and  they  were  right  merry  together.  Wine 
flowed  all  night,  and  a  couple  of  bagpipers  played  the 
music  by  turns.  They  soon  got  tired  of  playing,  but 
Janko  never  tired  of  dancing.  He  drank  on  to  midday, 
and  was  in  such  high  good-humor  that  he  did  not  know 
what  to  do  with  himself.  At  last  he  scattered  handfuls 
of  gold  among  the  gaping  peasantry,  and  while  they  were 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  17 1 

fighting  for  it  among  themselves,  he  went  out  into  the 
fields,  declaring  that  whosoever  dared  to  follow  him  would 
be  a  dead  man.  And,  indeed,  no  one  had  the  courage  to 
follow  him  but  one  man,  and  that  man  was  the  kopanit- 
schar. 

"  Janko  had  looked  for  him  all  night  long  in  order  to 
kill  him,  but  he  had  remained  concealed  in  a  hayrick  till 
midday.  At  midday,  he  crept  out  of  his  hiding-place 
and  went  to  look  for  Janko.  He  had  no  other  weapon 
but  a  long,  two-pronged  wooden  fork,  which  they  use  in 
those  parts  to  toss  hay. 

"  And  he  found  Janko  stretched  out  at  full  length  in 
the  meadow,  and  fast  asleep.  The  kopanitschar  caught 
him  round  the  neck  between  the  prongs  of  the  fork,  and 
pinned  him  fast  to  the  ground.  The  terrible  robber  was 
caught  and  quite  harmless.  In  vain  he  roared  and 
cursed  ;  the  kopanitschar's  iron  fist  and  wooden  fork 
held  him  down  till  the  rest  mustered  up  sufficient  cour- 
age to  hasten  up  and  secure  him. 

"To-morrow  the  whole  three  of  them  will  be  executed 
at  Eperies,  and  we  will  be  there  to  see  it  all." 


CHAPTER  XXIT. 

Wherein  is  related  what  end  was  reserved  for  the  evil-doers  by  way  of 
deterrent  example,  which  example,  however,  only  distressed  the 
soft-hearted  without  terrifying  the  stiff-necked. 

"  I  won't  be  there  to  see  it,"  said  Valentine  to  Simplex. 
"  A  shudder  runs  through  my  whole  body  when  I  think 
of  a  man  torturing  another.  If  a  man  were  to  beat, 
tweak,  or  flay  me,  1  should  only  laugh  at  it ;  but  when  I 
see  one  man  tormenting  another,  it  makes  my  blood  boil- 
I  feel  no  dizziness  when  I  stand  on  the  edge  of  the  lofti- 
est precipice,  but  when  I  see  another  hovering  over  the 
abyss,  I  am  beside  myself  with  terror.  I  am  amazed  that 
there  should  be  people  who  delight  in  watching  the  bloody 
scenes  on  the  scaffold.  The  battlefield  is  quite  another 
thing.  There  you  fight  man  to  man  ;  there  you  do  not 
hear  the  cries  of  the  dying.  The  death  I  deal  to  one 
man,  another  man  may  at  any  moment  deal  to  me.  But 
1  won't  see  men  who  are  bound  hand  and  foot  tortured 
to  death  ;  I  won't  hear  them  shriek  with  anguish  beneath 
the  hand  of  the  headsman." 

"  You'll  go,  notwithstanding,"  returned  Simplex.  "  As 
I've  already  said,  if  you  are  a  true  Calvinist,  you'll  resign 
yourself  to  predestination,  and  must  not  say  :  '  I'll  go 
hither,  or,  I'll  go  thither  ! '  You  will  do  what  it  was  pre- 
ordained you  should  do  at  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
and  the  place  you  are  now  going  to  is  the  town  of 
Eperies,  and  the  market  place  in  that  town." 

And  it  all  happened  exactly  as  Simplex  said.  For  they 
had  no  sooner  stepped  out  of  the  tavern  than  they  were 

172 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  173 

Stopped  by  a  patrol  of  drabants,  who  learning  that  they 
were  soldiers,  showed  them  the  mandate  of  the  Comman- 
dant of  Eperies,  whereby  all  the  soldiers  on  leave  in  the 
district  were  ordered  to  Eperies,  to  remain  in  the  market 
place  during  the  day,  so  that  the  people  might  not  dis- 
turb the  execution  of  the  law's  sentence,  or  the  comrades 
of  the  robbers  release  them  by  a  sudden  and  audacious 
onslaught. 

So  Valentine  had  to  march  to  Eperies,  with  the  other 
men-at-arms,  whether  he  liked  it  or  not. 

Crowds  of  people  were  pouring  into  the  town  that  day, 
from  all  quarters,  as  if  a  great  banquet  were  to  be  given, 
or  a  lord  lieutenant  installed — gentlemen  in  coaches  or 
on  horseback,  peasants  sitting  ten  in  a  wagon,  students, 
apprentices,  peddlers,  sacred-image  sellers,  and  deceivers 
of  all  sorts. 

Simplex  and  Valentine  were  sent  on  by  wagon  the 
same  night  to  Eperies,  where  they  arrived  at  dawn  next 
morning. 

At  that  time,  Eperies  no  longer  presented  the  smiling 
aspect  of  half  a  century  before.  The  internecine  dis- 
orders, the  religious  discussions,  the  ravages  of  robbers, 
had  laid  bare  the  whole  region.  The  stumps  of  trees 
and  wildering  weeds  were  all  that  remained  of  the 
orchards  which  had  once  encircled  the  city  walls,  and 
whole  rows  of  ruined  pleasure  houses  were  left  to  tell 
what  a  merry  life  had  once  been  there. 

Instead  of  the  fine  old  plum  and  lordly  apple  trees 
quite  another  sort  of  grove  had  grown  up  around  the 
bastions — a  ghastly  grove  of  gaunt,  withered  trees,  laden 
with  sad  fruits,  a  wood  of  gallowses,  wheels,  and  spikes, 
on  which  the  bones  of  criminals  were  rotting.  The  three 
captured  robber  bands  had  largely  contributed  to  this 
gruesome  grove.     The  lesser  fry,  the  receivers  of  stolen 


174  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

goods,  and  the  women  who  had  brought  the  robbers' 
powder  from  the  town,  had  been  executed  outside  the 
trenches,  three  days  before  ;  only  for  the  three  robber 
chieftains  was  reserved  the  supreme  distinction  of  being 
done  to  death  within  the  walls.  One  could  not  make  too 
sure  of  them. 

In  the  great  square,  where  the  townhall  and  the  large 
covered  market  stand  opposite  to  each  other,  that  terrible 
edifice,  generally  called  the  scaffold,  had  been  raised. 
It  towered  high  up  and  could  only  be  ascended  by  lad- 
ders, which  the  headsman's  apprentices,  when  they  went 
to  work,  drew  up  after  them  so  that  none  might  follow. 
In  the  middle  of  the  scaffold  stood  a  broad  block  against 
which  heavy  wheels  were  leaning.  On  each  side  of  the 
block  two  thick  stakes  were  fastened  with  heavy  depend- 
ent chains,  the  links  of  which  could  be  locked  and  un- 
locked. From  the  top  of  each  of  these  stakes  projected 
huge  forks  with  bars  across  them  and  hooks  hanging 
down  from  the  bars. 

In  front  of  the  townhall  a  dais  had  been  erected  for 
the  convenience  of  the  sheriffs,  mayor,  and  town  council- 
ors. A  guard  of  honor  stood  in  front  of  the  dais,  and 
the  scaffold  was  environed  by  soldiers  three  deep. 
Valentine  tried  to  get  into  the  hindermost  row.  He 
wanted  to  see  as  little  as  possible  of  the  terrible  spec- 
tacle. Simplex  stood  by  his  side,  so  as  to  be  at  hand  in 
case  his  friend  was  taken  ill.  The  great  square  was 
filled  with  a  gaping  crowd.  At  the  windows  stood  or 
sat  gayly  dressed  women,  just  as  if  a  Corpus  Christi  pro- 
cession were  about  to  pass.  The  very  roofs  of  the  houses 
were  covered  with  human  heads.  Booths  had  been 
erected  in  the  market  place,  where  cakes  and  mead  were 
offered  for  sale,  steaks  basted,  and  pancakes  tossed  in 
large  pans.     The  biographies  of  the  robbers,  printed  on 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  175 

coarse  paper  with  red  frontispieces,  were  also  hawked 
about. 

Conspicuous  among  the  itinerant  gypsies  and  peddlers 
was  a  woman  who  offered  for  sale  long  thongs  fastened 
to  the  end  of  a  stick,  and  was  particularly  importunate 
with  Simplex, 

"  Come  Mr.  Trumpeter,  won't  you  buy  a  thong  made 
out  of  the  skin  flayed  from  the  robbers'  backs  ?  " 

Simplex  at  once  recognized  the  voice  ;  it  was  Pirka 
the  witch.  So  under  the  pretext  of  chaffing  with  her,  he 
at  once  entered  into  a  conversation. 

"What  are  these  thongs  of  human  skin  good  for  ?  " 

"  They  are  good  against  the  plague  and  falling  sickness. 
They  also  keep  wild  beasts  away,  and  compel  the  most 
stubborn  or  sweethearts  to  surrender." 

"And  how  much  are  they  apiece  ?  " 

"  Four  thalers." 

But  Valentine  could  stand  it  no  longer, 

"  Don't  be  a  fool,"  said  he  to  Simplex,  "  she's  cheating 
you.  Those  thongs  of  fool  leather,  you'll  get  them  from 
the  farriers  for  a  penny  apiece." 

"  That's  all  you  know  about  it,  Mr.  Corporal,"  cried  the 
witch,  gnashing  her  teeth  ;  "  my  husband  is  not  a  knacker 
who  flays  horses,  but  a  headsman  who  flays  men." 

Valentine  shuddered,  and  spat  on  the  ground. 

"  Then  if  your  wares  be  really  genuine,  they  are  doubly 
loathsome.     Be  off  with  you  !  " 

Simplex  gave  Pirka  a  nudge  with  his  elbow  and 
pointed  at  Valentine  with  a  wink,  whereupon  Pirka 
looked  slyly  askance  at  him,  and  arching  her  elbows  and 
screwing  up  her  mouth,  said  to  Valentine  : 

"  Well,  well,  Mr.  Corporal,  for  all  your  fine  airs  you'll 
be  glad  enough  before  long  to  take  something  from  me 
which  comes  through  the  headsman's  hands." 

12 


176  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

Simplex  trod  on  her  foot  to  make  her  hold  her  tongi-«% 
and  then  they  began  talking  together  in  a  low  voice,  as 
if  they  were  only  haggling  about  the  thongs. 

The  next  moment  Pirka  had  as  completely  vanished  as 
if  the  earth  had  swallowed  her  up. 

When  the  clock  in  the  townhall  tower  struck  eight, 
the  bells  of  the  Franciscan  convent  close  by  began  to 
ring,  the  roll  of  drums  was  heard  proceeding  from  the 
courtyard,  and  the  sad  procession  appeared  in  the 
market  place. 

First  came  the  magistrates,  who  ascended  the  cloth- 
kiid  steps  of  the  dais,  on  the  top  of  which  the  town-clerk 
recited  the  sentence  aloud.  Then  came  the  guards, 
sword  in  hand,  and  between  them  the  three  delinquents, 
each  of  whom  had  a  cord  round  his  neck,  the  end  of 
which  was  held  by  one  of  the  headsman's  apprentices. 
Last  of  all  came  the  headsman,  the  old  vihodar  himself, 
on  a  white  horse,  dressed  in  a  long  red  mantle  half  cover- 
ing his  steed  ;  a  black  biretta  with  a  red  plume  covered 
his  head,  and  he  held  a  naked  sword  in  his  right  hand. 
Two  of  his  henchmen  led  the  horse.  Behind  him  marched 
eight  apprentices,  who  brought  with  them  a  whole  arsenal 
of  instruments  of  torture. 

Valentine  turned  his  head  aside  in  order  to  see  nothing 
of  all  this.  Had  he  but  looked,  he  would  certainly  have 
recognized  one  of  the  headsman's  assistants. 

The  mob  saluted  the  robbers  with  a  fearful  howl, 
which  they  answered  with  hideous  curses.  But  their 
filthiest  imprecations  were  hurled  at  the  women  among 
the  spectators,  who  were  ready  to  sink  into  the  ground 
for  shame. 

All  three  delinquents  bore  traces  of  torture  on  their 
bodies.  They  were  covered  with  burns  and  sores.  Yet 
they  showed  no  signs  of  weakness.     On  the  contrary,  they 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  I77 

greeted  the  old  vihodar  with  wild  laughter,  and  scornfully 
challenged  him  to  show  them  of  his  skill. 

He  coolly  tossed  the  scarlet  mantle  from  his  shoul- 
ders, and  in  a  low  voice  distributed  his  commands  to  the 
apprentices,  who  were  already  assembled  on  the  scaffold. 

The  mob  set  up  a  frightful  yell  at  the  sight  of  the  grim, 
stalwart  graybeard,  to  which  he  responded  with  a  mock 
bow  like  a  stage  hero. 

He  opened  the  proceedings  with  Bajus. 

Valentine  had  no  need  to  stop  his  ears,  for  Bajus  never 
uttered  a  sound.  Not  a  sigh  escaped  him.  The  people 
all  round  whispered  to  one  another  in  shuddering  awe. 
The  robber's  cold  contempt  of  death,  and  the  calmness 
with  which  he  endured  all  manner  of  tortures,  raised  him 
in  their  eyes  to  the  rank  of  a  hero. 

In  the  deep  stillness  which  prevailed,  nothing  was  to 
be  heard  but  the  droning  of  the  heavy  wheel. 

It  was  all  over  with  Bajus. 

The  ne.xt  in  order  was  the  haughty  Hafran. 

With  him  the  bloody  drama  took  quite  another  turn. 

The  vihodar's  assistants  had  sufficed  for  the  first  rob- 
ber. He  himself  had  only  given  his  directions  in  a  low 
voice.  But  honor  constrained  him  to  cope  personally 
with  the  second  robber. 

Hafran  was  a  frantic  devil.  He  howled  curses  at  the 
vihodar  and  overwhelmed  him  with  insults.  He  told  him 
to  his  face  that  he  was  a  clumsy  bungler. 

Then  the  old  vihodar  took  his  biretta  from  his  head, 
doffed  his  coat,  and  set  about  accomplishing  his  master- 
piece. 

The  spectators  had  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  both 
performers.  The  old  vihodar  exhausted  all  his  skill 
upon  the  robber,  and  the  robber  never  ceased  hurling 
defiance  at  the  vihodar.     They  cursed  and  reviled  each 


178  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

other  like  devils.  The  robber  laughed  at  all  the  torments, 
and  infuriated  the  vihodar  by  asking  him  derisively  when 
he  was  going  to  begin.  The  vihodar  was  quite  beside 
himself  for  rage,  and  excelled  himself  in  the  invention  of 
fresh  torments.  Every  time  he  produced  a  fresh  instru- 
ment of  torture,  he  asked  the  robber  how  the  entertain- 
ment pleased  him. 

The  Franciscan  monk  who  was  on  the  scaffold  to  afford 
the  delinquents  the  last  consolations  of  religion,  tried  to 
pacify  them  both,  and  begged  them  for  Heaven's  sake  to 
leave  off  cursing  ;  but  neither  paid  the  slightest  atten- 
tion to  him.  The  robber  had  the  last  word.  Even  when 
he  was  so  mangled  and  mutilated  that  he  no  longer 
resembled  anything  human,  even  then  he  howled  words 
of  scorn  in  the  face  of  his  tormentor.  At  last  they 
plunged  a  hook  into  his  side  and  hoisted  him  aloft,  and 
even  then  he  showered  down  insults  upon  all  the  women 
present  at  the  bloody  spectacle,  till  at  last  he  gave  up 
his  unconquerable  spirit,  which  had  surely  made  some 
mistake  in  choosing  a  simple  human  body  for  its  earthly 
dwelling-place. 

The  old  vihodar  was  ashamed.  He  felt  that  this  heroic 
resistance  had  very  considerably  impaired  his  prestige  in 
the  opinion  of  the  people.  This  blot  upon  his  escutcheon 
must  be  wiped  off. 

The  third  robber  chieftain,  Janko,  still  remained.  He 
should  serve  to  restore  the  honor  of  the  vihodar. 

The  old  vihodar  proposed  to  do  great  things  with  him. 
He  had  the  fetters  removed  from  the  feet  of  the  delin- 
quent, and  would  not  even  allow  him  to  be  bound  to  the 
stake. 

"  We  will  have  a  dance  together  !  "  said  he  to  Janko. 

That  word  was  the  death  of  him. 

The  next  moment,  such  a  yell  of  horror  burst  forth 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  179 

from  the  crowd  that  even  Valentine's  curiosity  was 
aroused.  He  looked  toward  the  scaffold,  and  what  he 
saw  there  really  was  astounding. 

Janko,  the  mighty  leaper,  the  instant  his  chains  were 
taken  from  his  feet,  had  sprung  upon  the  vihodar,  pressed 
down  his  chest  with  his  knees,  and  bit  him  in  the  neck 
exactly  on  the  spot  where  the  great  jugular  artery  is. 
This  he  bit  clean  through,  and — as  if  to  justify  the  fable, 
that  whomsoever  Janko  bit  with  his  envenomed  fangs 
was  a  child  of  death — the  old  vihodar  fell  to  the  ground 
like  a  log  of  wood,  and  when  the  apprentices  sprang  for- 
ward to  tear  the  delinquent  away  from  him,  the  headsman 
was  already  dead. 

This  incident  so  revolted  Valentine  that  he  reeled,  and 
clinging  tightly  to  Simplex,  stammered  :  "  I  really  believe 
I  am  going  to  faint." 

"Hold  up  a  little  bit  longer!"  whispered  Simplex  in 
his  ear. 

As  soon  as  the  people  learnt  that  Janko  had  killed  the 
vihodar  with  a  single  bite,  a  fearful  tumult  arose. 

Everyone  began  to  applaud  the  delinquent  and  cry  : 
"  Vivat  Janko,"  while  they  pelted  the  headsman's  assist- 
ants with  stinking  eggs  and  rotten  apples. 

At  last  the  blare  of  trumpets  and  the  roll  of  kettle- 
drums drowned  the  voice  of  the  mob,  and  the  sheriff 
arose  on  the  dais  and  declared  that  despite  the  unhappy 
accident  which  had  befallen  the  old  vihodar,  the  execu- 
tion of  the  law's  sentence  must  proceed  notwithstanding. 
The  young  master,  the  son  of  the  vihodar,  was  there,  and 
he  was  to  do  his  duty,  and  that  at  once. 

The  uproar  ceased  and  the  crowd  in  intense  expecta- 
tion looked  toward  the  scaffold  for  the  new  performer  to 
appear.  It  was  plain,  from  the  deep  silence  that  now 
ensued,  that  the  newcomer  had  something  to  say. 


l8o  PRETTY  MIC  HAL. 

Valentine  kept  his  eyes  closed.  He  was  deeply  agi- 
tated. Had  he  not  been  in  the  ranks  he  would  have  run 
away. 

And  now,  in  the  midst  of  the  general  silence,  he 
heard  the  young  master  addressing  the  people  : 

*'  This  evil-doer  who  has  killed  my  father  is  not  worthy 
to  be  put  out  of  the  world  by  a  human  hand  in  a  human 
way." 

Valentine  listened  in  amazement.  That  voice  was 
familiar  to  his  ear.  It  seemed  to  him  as  if  he  had  once 
heard  it  from  the  pulpit. 

But  the  other  proceeded  : 

"  There  is  a  mode  of  execution  used  in  distant  Abys- 
sinia, where  the  black  skins  of  evil-doers  are  insensible  to 
ordinary  torture.  They  are  sewn  alive  in  fresh  buffalo 
hides  and  hung  in  the  sun.  So  soon  as  the  hide  begins 
to  dry  and  shrink,  the  evil-doers  learn  to  sing  a  veritable 
song  of  hell.  That  is  the  way  in  which  I  mean  to 
execute  this  delinquent." 

"  What's  that  ? "  cried  Valentine,  "  whose  voice  is  that  ? 
Who  but  one  that  has  attended  the  lectures  of  the  learned 
Professor  David  PVolich  could  have  heard  of  this  Abys- 
sinian tale  ?     Who  is  it?  " 

He  looked  up  and  recognized  the  man  in  scarlet  on 
the  scaffold. 

"  That  is  Henry  Catsrider,  the  husband  of  your 
Michal  !"  cried  Simplex,  looking  him  full  in  the  face. 

To  Valentine  Kalondai  it  seemed  as  if  everything  was 
turning  round  and  round.  He  staggered,  and  would 
have  fallen  if  Simplex  had  not  seized  him  by  the  arm  and 
led  him  away.  Nobody  heeded  them.  During  this 
horrible  scene  many  others,  even  among  the  soldiers,  had 
fallen  senseless  to  the  ground. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

In  which  it  is  shown  not  only  that  Satan  is  tlie  author  of  all  evil,  but 
also  that  the  grisly  witches,  his  handmaidens,  are  always  ready 
with  their  malicious  practices  to  plunge  poor  mortals  into  utter 
destruction. 

Barbara  Pirka  had  run  straight  home  to  the  lonely 
house  that  stood  outside  the  walls  of  Zeb.  She  knew  all 
the  short  cuts  across  the  mountains,  so  that  she  could 
have  given  a  horseman  an  hour's  start  and  yet  have  beaten 
him  easily.  Night  made  no  difference  to  her.  She  never 
lost  herself,  and  wandered  fearlessly  through  the  wilder- 
ness in  company  with  the  will-o'-the-wisps  and  other  evil 
spirits,  with  whom  she  manifestly  stood  on  the  most 
friendly  terms. 

The  morning  light  found  her  at  the  Girjo  kopanitscha. 
Here  the  wife  of  the  kopanitschar  of  Hamar  kept  house 
alone.  Her  husband,  after  capturing  Janko,  had  turned 
her  out  of  doors,  and  then  enlisted  in  the  county  militia. 
What  else,  then,  could  his  wife  do  but  turn  witch  ?  She 
had  already  began  her  novitiate  in  the  school  of  Barbara 
Pirka. 

"  Well,  Annie  !  "  cried  Barbara  on  entering,  "what  do 
you  think  ?  To-day,  to-morrow,  and  the  day  after  to- 
morrow, three  livelong  days,  is  Janko  to  be  tormented. 
To-night,  however,  I  bring  you  guests.  Make  ready  a 
good  supper.  We  shall  have  music,  too,  and  will  hold  a 
wake  in  Janko's  honor." 

With  that  she  gave  the  kopanitschar's  wife  a  ducat  to 
provide  supper,  and  then  taught  her  tlu  diabolical  art  of 

i8x 


1 82  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

tying  knots  in  the  entrails  of  absent  foes,  so  that  they 
may  pine  away  and  perish  miserably.  That  very  night, 
all  the  headsman's  apprentices  were  seized  with  cramps 
in  the  stomach,  and  if  this  was  not  caused  by  the  quanti- 
ties of  sour  wine  which  they  had  been  drinking  all  day 
it  was  certainly  due  to  the  malpractices  of  the  two  hags. 

All  this  time  the  young  wife  was  sitting  in  the  upper 
story  of  the  headsman's  house,  absolutely  alone.  Only 
two  of  the  apprentices  were  left  behind  to  look  after  the 
premises,  and  they  took  it  in  turns  to  keep  watch  in  the 
tower  and  guard  the  drawbridge. 

The  lonely  house  was  well  protected  against  every 
attack.  Pointed  stakes,  planted  at  the  bottom  of  the 
moat  encircling  the  walls,  made  it  impossible  for  anyone 
to  swim  over.  The  narrow  windows  of  the  massive  walls 
were  guarded  by  strong  iron  palings  and  iron  casements, 
and  two  gigantic  dogs,  which  would  have  tackled  the 
most  strongly  armed  intruder,  ran  loose  in  the  courtyard. 
Both  apprentices  were  armed  with  muskets,  the  barrels 
of  which  were  so  large  that  one  could  have  fired  whole 
handfuls  of  lead  out  of  them  if  necessary. 

The  young  wife  was  left  at  home  when  everyone  went 
to  the  bloody  procedure  at  Eperies.  She,  indeed,  had  not 
the  slightest  wish  to  go  with  them.  Her  soul  died  away 
within  her  at  the  very  thought  of  the  frightful  things 
which  had  such  a  horrible  attraction  for  other  women. 
But  her  husband,  too,  had  no  wish  to  take  her.  He  was 
far  too  jealous  of  her,  and  however  kindly  the  young 
woman  might  treat  him,  he  felt  that  it  was  deception, 
every  bit  of  it,  and  did  not  trust  her.  Besides,  he  feared 
that  Valentine  Kalondai  might  be  among  the  crowds 
which  flocked  from  every  quarter  toward  Eperies. 

Barbara  Pirka  was  charged  to  remain  at  home,  and  on 
no  account  quit  the  house   till   they  ail   returned.     The 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  183 

doorkeepers,  too,  were  to  let  no  one  in  or  out,  not  even 
Pirka. 

As  if  it  were  possible  to  keep  a  witch  under  lock  and 
key  !  She  was  at  Eperies  before  the  vihodar  and  his 
company,  although  she  did  not  set  out  till  an  hour  later. 

Michal  had  told  Pirka  that  she  should  not  require  her 
during  her  husband's  absence,  and  might  therefore  leave 
her  to  herself.  She  could  cook  what  she  wanted  ;  she 
had  learnt  to  do  so  at  home.  In  the  kitchen  was  a  well 
from  which  she  could  draw  water  by  means  of  a  windlass, 
an  iron  chain,  and  two  buckets,  so  she  had  no  occasion 
to  go  down  into  the  courtyard  for  water.  She  could 
therefore  lock  all  the  doors  behind  her  (the  trellised  door 
leading  to  the  staircase  as  well  as  the  door  closing  the 
corridor),  and  when  at  night  she  had  also  barred  and 
bolted  the  heavy  oaken  door  of  the  kitchen,  she  felt  her- 
self quite  secure  against  all  human  violence. 

All  the  more  defenseless  was  she  against  those  things 
which  cannot  be  kept  out  by  bolts  and  bars. 

When  the  ordinary  sounds  of  day  had  died  away  in  the 
house,  when  the  heavy  tread  of  jack  boots,  the  rough 
voices,  the  filthy  jests,  the  hoarse  curses  of  the  drunken 
roysterers,  had  grown  dumb,  then  the  intervening  silence 
brought  with  it  those  invisible  beings  who  announce  their 
presence  in  whispers,  sighs,  and  groans.  In  every  corner 
she  fancied  she  saw  a  victim  whose  blood  had  grown  dry 
on  the  hands  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  house.  She 
fancied  they  came  forth  to  demand  back  from  her  their 
dissevered  lives,  to  claim  for  their  freezing  limbs  the 
clothes  which  the  hangman  had  inherited  from  them. 
Every  shadow  appeared  to  beckon  to  her.  Lifeless  ob- 
jects became  animated  and  spoke  to  her.  Behind  her 
back  she  heard  a  perpetual  whimpering  and  sobbing,  and 
when  she  stirred  the  fire  the  moist  logs  spat  and  spluttered. 


1 84  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

There  was  a  buzzing  all  around  her  like  the  whirring  of 
cockchafers.  When  the  wind  arose,  there  was  a  howling 
and  groaning  all  through  the  house  as  if  whole  hosts  of 
spirits  were  haunting  it,  and  they  entered  visibly  into  the 
dreams  of  the  poor  agonized  lady,  and  drove  her  toward 
dizzy  abysses  with  their  grotesquely  hideous  faces  and 
mutilated  figures. 

When,  however,  she  had  scared  away  these  imaginary 
specters,  the  cold  and  dreary  horror  of  reality  swept  be- 
fore her  mind  in  a  still  more  terrible  shape. 

What  sort  of  a  life  was  she  leading  ?  She  was  chained 
to  a  man  whom  she  loved  not  when  she  first  married  him, 
but  whose  very  presence  filled  her  now  with  fear  and 
loathing.  She  had  been  deceived,  most  cruelly  deceived. 
She  had  been  shut  out  of  the  world  forever,  and  chained 
alive  to  the  open  gate  of  hell,  where  all  who  entered  in 
mocked  and  gibbered  at  her  with  their  decapitated  heads. 
She  was  without  hope,  without  the  prospect  of  ever  es- 
caping from  her  prison,  of  ever  seeing  her  fate  take  a 
favorable  turn,  of  ever  having  her  woes  alleviated.  She 
was  tortured  by  the  thought  that  her  father  had  forgotten 
her  ;  but  what  agonized  her  still  more  was  the  reflection 
that  her  lover  was  thinking  of  her  even  now,  knowing 
nothing  of  her  misery,  fancying  her  happy,  and  cursing 
and  adoring  her  at  the  same  time. 

Then  there  came  to  her  those  evil  thoughts  which  are 
far  more  terrible  than  all  the  pale  specters  of  the  tomb 
and  the  scaffold— doubt  in  a  heavenly  Providence,  rebel- 
lion against  human  morality  and  human  justice.  The 
custom  which  gave  a  father  a  right  to  dispose  of  the  des- 
tiny of  his  child  revolted  her.  She  cursed  the  altar  be- 
fore which  a  man  and  a  woman  are  bound  together  with 
inseparable  chains.  She  hated  human  society,  which 
Stifles  the  longings  of  the  heart  in  the  name  of  respecta- 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  185 

bility.  She  grew  dimly  conscious  that  despair  might 
make  her  wicked,  very  wicked. 

She  began  to  be  afraid  of  herself. 

At  night  she  dared  not,  and  indeed  had  no  desire  to 
sleep  in  her  bedroom.  She  loathed  the  marriage  bed,  and 
made  for  herself  a  sort  of  couch  in  the  kitchen.  The 
kitchen  was  her  most  secure  asylum.  All  night  long  she 
kept  a  roaring  fire  (she  could  not  bear  to  remain  in  the 
dark)  and  on  the  fire  she  placed  pots  of  water  which  she 
kept  continually  boiling.  She  had  no  weapons,  and  even 
if  she  had  had  them  what  use  would  they  have  been  in 
her  weak  hands  .-'  But  she  thought  herself  quite  capable 
of  drenching  with  boiling  water  any  man  who  dared  to 
approach  her. 

She  had  now  been  shut  up  alone  for  five  days,  and  the 
frightful  solitude  had  made  her  very  nervous.  Solitary 
confinement  is  the  worst  of  all  torments,  it  is  worse  than 
hunger.  She  would  have  felt  much  more  comfortable  if 
Pirka  had  been  with  her.  Even  the  witch's  words,  with 
all  their  devilish  insinuations,  were  better  than  the  eternal, 
ghostly  gibbering  of  the  crackling  logs,  this  piping  and 
squeaking  through  doors  and  window  crevices,  and  this 
howling  in  the  chimney  when  the  wind  blew. 

On  the  fifth  morning,  as  she  was  turning  the  windlass 
in  order  to  draw  water  from  the  kitchen  well,  the  words 
escaped  her  : 

"  Oh,  that  the  devil  would  bring  Pirka  hither  !  " 

Scarcely  had  she  said  it,  when  she  perceived  that  the 
windlass  began  to  turn  round  of  its  own  accord,  and  from 
out  of  the  ascending  bucket  rose  the  bristly,  angular  form 
of  Barbara  Pirka. 

Michal  cried  : 

"  Jesus,  Maria  !  "  and  shrieked  aloud  for  terror. 

But  Pirka  laughed,  and  said  to  her  : 


1 86  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

"  Ha,  ha  !  my  pretty  little  lady  !  You  can't  lock  out  a 
witch  you  see.  A  witch  can  find  her  way  in  through  any 
loophole." 

Michal  really  believed  that  Pirka  had  come  straight 
out  of  the  water,  altliough  her  clothes  and  boots  were 
quite  dry. 

"  Eh,  what  great  supper  are  we  getting  ready  yonder  !" 
cried  Pirka,  catching  sight  of  the  army  of  pots  on  the 
hearth.  Then  she  looked  into  them  all,  one  after  the 
other.  "  Water,  water,  nothing  but  boiling  water.  Well, 
well  !  let  us  put  something  into  one  of  them  that  we  may 
have  a  little  good  broth." 

With  that  she  took  out  of  her  knapsack  a  handful  of 
scraps  of  paper,  and  threw  them  into  the  boiling  water. 

"These  are  names  clipped  out  of  the  perpetual  al- 
manac," whispered  she  to  Michal,  with  a  grin.  "The 
first  that  comes  to  the  surface  will  be  the  name  of  our 
beloved." 

Then  she  took  a  ladle,  and  fished  out  the  first  piece 
of  paper  which  appeared  on  the  surface  of  the  boiling 
water.  Michal,  she  said,  was  to  see  what  was  written 
on  it. 

Michal  took  the  scrap,  and  read  aloud  the  name  : 

"  Valentine  !  " 

In  her  terror  she  threw  it  back  into  the  flames. 

But  the  flames,  so  far  from  consuming  the  wet  scrap 
of  paper,  tossed  it  up  into  the  air,  and  the  name  of  the 
beloved  one  flew  up  the  chimney  with  the  smoke. 

"  it  won't  burn,  ladykin  !  "  laughed  Pirka.  "  Hocus- 
pocus  !  there  it  is  again  !  " 

And  now  she  had  another  scrap  of  paper  in  her  hand, 
on  which  was  also  written  the  word,  Valentine  ! 

"  Well,  and  how  has  my  little  lady  been  amusing  her- 
self all  this  time  ?  "  asked  Pirka,  stroking  pretty  Michal's 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  187 

hands.  "  Has  she  not  been  wishing  that  her  Pirka  was 
with  her  again  ?  " 

Michal  could  not  deny  that  she  had. 

"  But  those  who  believe  in  what  the  cards  say,"  pur- 
sued Pirka,  somewhat  irrelevantly,  "  must  pay  for  it,  and 
those  who  do  not  believe  must  also  pay,  ay,  and  much 
more  dearly  too." 

"  Let  us  see  !  " 

Michal  crouched  down  beside  Pirka  on  the  mat,  where 
the  witch  had  spread  the  cards. 

"  Oh,  oh  !  Great  things  are  in  store  for  us,"  began 
Pirka,  pointing  to  the  cards.  "  This  here  is  the  old 
vihodar,  and  that  yonder  is  his  son.  Look,  there's  a 
coffin.  Death  threatens  the  old  vihodar.  The  robbers 
will  kill  him." 

"What  nonsense,"  interrupted  Michal. 

"  1  don't  say  it.  The  cards  say  it.  Victory  and 
might  await  the  young  master.  He  kills  the  robber,  and 
will  be  promoted  to  his  father's  place." 

Michal  laughed. 

"That  is  certainly  not  true.  Henry  would  quit  the 
headsman's  trade  if  his  father  died.  He  would  go  to 
Germany  where  nobody  knows  him,  and  try  to  get  a 
professorship.  He  has  promised  me  it  a  hundred 
times." 

"  Well,  well,  I  know  nothing.  I  only  say  what  the 
cards  .say.  Look  now  !  There  is  the  heart  lady  !  Oh, 
what  a  joy  awaits  her.  Her  beloved  is  close  at  hand. 
That  rose  means  burning  love.  That  dog  is  fidelity. 
This  dove-cot  is  felicity.  This  very  day  she  will  meet 
him." 

"  Go  along  with  you,  Pirka  !     Tt  is  all  nonsense." 

"Well,  well,  my  little  lady,  we  shall  see.  The  cards 
never  lie.     This  very  night  she  will  see  him," 


1 88  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

"He  is  far  away;  who  knows  how  far?"  sighed 
Michal. 

"  Yes,  but  I've  a  little  buck-goat,  and  when  I  send 
him  away  and  say  to  him,  *  Go,  bring  me  the  pretty 
youth  hither  whom  my  lady  dotes  upon  ;  so  true  as  I  came 
out  of  that  well,  my  little  buck-goat  will  bring  the  young 
man  hither  though  he  were  even  on  the  Turkish  borders." 

Michal  began  to  grow  frightened. 

"  Hither  he  shall  not  bring  him,"  cried  she. 

"No,  not  into  this  hideous  hole,  perhaps,  not  into  the 
house  of  the  vihodar,  but  into  a  quiet  little  cot  where 
the  doves  bill  and  coo  on  the  gables." 

"But  how  am  I  to  get  there?  I  should  not  care 
about  sitting  on  the  buck -goat." 

"  Nor  need  you.  Barbara  Pirka  can  take  her  pretty 
little  lady  wherever  she  can  go  herself,  and  will  lead  her 
through  beautiful  flowery  meadows  to  the  house  of  bliss 
by  a  path  on  which  not  even  the  feet  of  a  butterfly  could 
get  wet  with  dew.  The  fair  lady  will  then  disguise  her- 
self as  a  peasant  girl,  so  that  none  who  meet  her  on  the 
road  may  recognize  her  ;  but  she  will  also  take  nice 
clothes  with  her,  so  as  to  meet  her  beloved  in  gorgeous 
apparel.  She  must  dress  herself  in  his  presence  three 
times  running,  the  first  time  in  scarlet,  the  second  time 
in  corn-flower  blue,  and  the  third  time  in  purple  ;  she 
must  also  put  on  gold  earrings  and  a  goodly  chain,  and 
on  her  head  she  must  wear  a  coif  of  pearls.  She  must 
pack  up  all  these  splendid  things.  The  headsman  has 
bought  them  for  his  wife,  and  she  has  not  worn  them 
once  yet.     Eh  !  how  beautiful  we  shall  look  !  " 

"  Tempt  me  not,  Satan  !  " 

"  The  cards  have  said  it  and  Pirka  will  do  it.  The 
pretty  lady  may  like  or  lump  it,  that  is  her  lookout.  In 
any  case  she  will  pay  the  price  for  it." 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  189 

Michal  believed  and  disbelieved  at  the  same  time. 

She  put  together  the  three  dresses — the  delicate  rose- 
colored  dress,  the  corn-flower  blue,  and  the  purple  one; 
then  she  hung  them  all  up  before  her  one  after  the  other, 
examined  them  all,  and  considered  which  would  suit  her 
best.  Then  she  let  Pirka  disguise  her  as  a  peasant  girl, 
and  put  on  her  a  short  frock  and  high  red  shoes.  (In 
the  vihodar's  house  there  was  a  whole  collection  of  cos- 
tumes. Heaven  only  knows  whence  he  got  them.)  She 
turned  herself  round  and  round,  and  was  quite  glad  that 
she  looked  so  pretty,  but  when  Pirka  said  to  her  : 

"Come,  now  let  us  go!"  she  shrank  back,  and  an- 
swered that  to  do  so  would  be  to  sin  against  God. 

At  that  moment  a  flourish  of  trumpets  was  heard  be- 
fore the  gates.  It  was  the  signal  by  which  Henry  usually 
announced  his  arrival.  The  drawbridge  now  rattled 
down,  and  the  friendly  barking  of  the  watch  dogs  showed 
that  the  newcomer  was  an  old  friend. 

The  blood  flew  to  Michal's  face. 

"  My  husband  has  come.  Now  you  see  how  the  cards 
have  lied  !  " 

She  had  barely  time  to  roll  up  the  three  beautiful  dresses 
into  a  bundle  and  pitch  them  into  a  dark  corner.  The 
peasant  costume  she  was  obliged  to  keep  on.  However, 
she  could  tell  her  husband  that  it  was  her  kitchen  dress. 

The  keys  of  the  corridor  and  the  trapdoor  Michal 
handed  to  Pirka,  that  she  might  admit  the  knocker 
below. 

And  now,  as  she  pretended  to  be  busy  about  the  hearth, 
she  awaited  the  appearance  of  that  face  which  always 
made  her  sick  at  heart,  but  which  had  nevertheless  on  this 
occasion,  so  she  thought,  come  between  her  and  a  great 
temptation,  a  grievous  sin.  Yet  it  was  not  her  husband 
after  all,  but  a  still   more  detestable  shape.     It  was  the 


^9°  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

second  apprentice,  who  used  to  lend  the  vihodar  a  help- 
ing hand  in  all  his  great  achievements.  The  first  appren- 
tice already  worked  on  his  own  account. 

The  intruder  did  not  bestow  upon  her  so  much  as  the 
shadow  of  a  salutation,  but  slouched  down  upon  the 
kitchen  bench,  threw  his  heavy  hat  on  the  hearth,  and 
blandly  said  to  the  lady  : 

"  Give  me  to  drink,  my  pretty  mistress  !  I'm  perishing 
with  thirst." 

Then  he  emptied  a  bumper  of  beer  to  the  very  dregs, 
and  after  that  set  about  delivering  his  message. 

"  I  bring  you  good  news,  my  pretty  young  misstress  ! 
The  devil  has  carried  off  the  old  vihodar.  The  accursed 
Janko  has  bitten  him  in  the  neck  with  his  poisonous  teeth 
and  the  old  'un  croaked  straight  off." 

Michal  thought,  with  a  shudder,  that  the  cards  had  said 
as  much. 

"  Now  your  husband  will  be  master  in  his  own  house. 
All  the  treasures  belong  to  him.  And  the  honor,  too. 
The  Count  of  Zips  and  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Saros  have 
already,  under  their  hand  and  seal,  appointed  him  public 
executioner  in  his  father's  stead,  with  jurisdiction  over 
the  whole  hill  country,  and  he  has  just  been  accomplishing 
his  masterpiece  on  Janko,  who  is  still  roaring  for  pain  and 
will  roar  two  days  and  two  nights  longer,  so  that  all 
Eperies  will  hear  him.  The  woman  who  does  not  faint, 
the  child  who  does  not  get  the  falling  sickness,  and  the  dog 
who  does  not  go  mad  through  hearing  this  howling,  will  be 
fit  to  join  the  witches'   sabbath  on  the  Peak  of  Lomnitz." 

Michal  shivered  as  if  in  an  ague.  So  Henry  had  volun- 
tarily taken  over  his  father's  office  ;  nay  !  at  once  ac- 
complished his  hellish  masterpiece  ?  He  had  not  thought 
of  flying,  though  no  one  could  have  compelled  him  to 
remain.     He  actually  takes  delight  in  cruelty  !     What  ! 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  191 

the  ex-clergyman,  the  meek  curer  of  souls,  could  within 
so  short  a  time  become  a  bloody  headsman,  and  thus 
close  against  Michal  every  way  of  escaping  from  this  hell  ! 
And  all  this  had  been  prophesied  by  the  cards  of  the 
wise  woman  ! 

And  as  if  to  raise  her  horror,  disgust,  and  loathing  to 
the  highest  pitch,  the  fellow  stepped  up  to  her  and  said, 
with  a  hideous  leer  : 

"  My  pretty  young  mistress  !  you  must  give  the  bearer 
of  so  many  good  tidings  a  couple  of  busses." 

The  fellow  may  have  been  drunk  (he  had  looked  in  at 
every  tavern  on  his  way  home)  but  his  demand  was  cer- 
tainly based  on  a  very  ancient  custom. 

*'  It  is  a  law  with  us,"  said  he  to  the  terrified,  recoiling 
woman,  "  that  whoever  first  brings  the  news  to  the  heads- 
man's wife  that  her  husband  has  been  installed  as  master 
shall  receive  a  couple  of  good,  smacking  busses  from 
the  young  mistress." 

And  with  that  he  stroked  out  his  stubbly  mustaches 
with  both  hands  and  stretched  out  his  arms  to  clasp  pretty 
Michal  round  the  waist. 

This  shameless  impudence  put  the  tender  lady  into  such 
a  violent  rage  that  she  now  did  what  she  had  all  along 
been  meditating  ;  she  snatched  from  the  hearth  a  pot 
full  of  boiling  water,  and  soused  the  importunate  loafer 
from  head  to  foot,  scalding  him  so  severely  that  for  one 
moment  he  was  quite  dazed.  And  during  that  one  mo- 
ment, Michal  rushed  upon  him,  hurled  him  back  with  all 
her  might,  Pirka  assisting  her,  and  their  united  efforts 
succeeded  in  pitching  the  big  strong  man  headlong  out 
of  the  kitchen.  Then  they  quickly  slammed  to  the  heavy 
oaken  door. 

But  the  parboiled  wretch,  speedily  recovering  himself 
and  now  madder  than  ever,  fell  to  cursing  and  swearing, 


192  PRETTY  MIC  HAL. 

threatened  to  do  Michal  a  mischief,  and  called  loudly 
to  his  fellow-apprentices  to  help  him  ;  whereupon  they 
hastened  up  with  iron  clubs  (which  also  played  a  part  at 
executions  in  those  days),  and  began  hammering  at  the 
oaken  door  with  all  their  might. 

Michal  gave  herself  up  for  lost.  She  would  rather 
have  sprung  down  the  well  than  have  stopped  till  the 
murderers  had  battered  in  the  door, 

"  Don't  be  alarmed,  my  pretty  ladykin,"  said  the 
witch,  taking  her  by  the  hand.  "  The  cards  have  twice 
spoken  the  truth,  haven't  they  ?  And  depend  upon  it 
they  will  speak  the  truth  the  third  time  also.  Will  you 
trust  me  now  ?  " 

"  Take  me,  body  and  soul  ! "  cried  the  unhappy 
woman,  throwing  herself  into  the  witch's  arms. 

"Well  !  let  the  pretty  lady  first  take  this  burning  fagot 
in  her  hand  and  step  into  the  bucket.  I'll  turn  the 
wheel  and  let  her  down,  not  into  the  water,  but  only  as 
far  as  the  middle  of  the  shaft.  There  she  will  find  a 
narrow  platform  by  an  opening,  where  she  must  wait  till 
I  have  let  myself  down,  too." 

Michal,  in  the  extremity  of  her  bitterness  and  despair, 
was  capable  of  anything,  so  she  allowed  Pirka  to  let  her 
down  into  the  well.  By  the  light  of  the  burning  fagots, 
she  found  the  described  opening  and  stepped  into  it. 
The  bucket  again  ascended,  and  in  a  short  time  Pirka 
also  came  down,  holding  fast  in  her  hands  the  other  end 
of  the  chain  and  gradually  letting  the  bucket  down  ring 
by  ring.  On  arriving  opposite  to  the  opening,  she,  too, 
sprang  out  of  the  bucket  and  unloosed  it  from  the  chain, 
whereupon  the  other  bucket  loosing  its  equilibrium,  fell 
down  into  the  water,  and  the  chain  ran  rattling  up  to 
the  wheel. 

"  Well,  my  pretty  little  lady  !    I  think  we  may  now  go 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  193 

on  a  little  further,"  said  Pirka,  who  carried  on  her  back 
the  bundle  in  which  were  all  Michal's  fine  clothes. 

At  the  end  of  the  narrow  passage  was  an  open  iron 
door,  which  led  into  a  low  vaulted  cellar,  full  of  large 
barrels  containing  pitch,  tar,  sulphur,  and  tow,  in  fact 
all  the  raw  materials  of  the  headsman's  trade,  besides 
sundry  tanned  hides,  the  exuviae  of  his  triumphs.  This 
cellar  terminated  in  a  long  corridor,  and  at  the  end  of  the 
corridor  was  another  iron  door. 

Pirka  had  a  key  which  opened  this  door,  so  she  was 
able  to  go  in  and  out  of  the  house  unseen  whenever  she 
liked. 

The  object  of  this  subterraneous  way  was  to  enable 
the  headsman  to  escape,  in  case  robber  bands  besieged 
his  house  and  drove  him  to  extremities.  The  little  iron 
door  led  into  a  wood. 

In  the  cellar  was  a  flight  of  wooden  steps  leading  up 
to  a  trapdoor. 

Before  quitting  this  corridor,  Pirka  wove  out  of  the 
tow  a  huge  skein,  which  reached  from  one  end  of  the 
corridor  to  the  other,  and  as  she  opened  the  door  for 
Michal  to  go  out,  she  hurled  the  burning  fagot  into 
the  tow. 

"  Why  do  you  throw  the  fagot  into  the  tow  ?  "  asked 
Michal. 

"  Because  it  would  only  betray  us  outside  here  ;  nor 
do  we  want  it,  for  the  moon  is  still  high." 

"  But  the  cellar  might  catch  fire  ? " 

"  All  the  better  for  us,  for  then  they  will  not  be  able 
to  pursue  us  that  way  if  they  find  out  how  we  have 
escaped." 

"  But  if  the  cellar  burn,  the  house  may  burn  too." 

"  And  what  then?  Is  there  anything  burning  there 
which  my  pretty  mistress  or  myself  would  greatly  miss.'" 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

A  true  relation  of  the  thoughtlessness  of  youth,  and  the  artifices  where- 
by women  enthrall  their  lovers. 

"I  AM  afraid  !"  said  Michal,  when  she  found  herself  in 
the  middle  of  the  dark  forest. 

"  What's  there  to  be  afraid  of  ?  "  cried  Pirka.  "  The 
wild  beasts,  the  bears,  and  the  wolves,  have  been  scared 
away  into  other  regions  by  the  shooting  match  between 
the  county  militia  and  the  robbers,  so  that  they  won't 
come  back  again  in  a  hurry.  The  robber  bands,  too,  have 
been  rooted  out.  At  this  moment  they  are  dancing  in 
the  air  round  the  bastions  of  Eperies.  We  shall  have 
peace  and  quiet  now  for  at  least  a  year  to  come.  Not 
that  the  people  have  been  terrified  by  the  fate  of  the  ex- 
ecuted robbers  ;  not  a  bit  of  it.  On  the  contrary,  many 
a  man  will  be  thereby  stimulated  to  live  and  die  as  bravely 
as  they  have  done.  But  it  will  be  a  year  at  least  before 
the  new  robber  bands  seek  (and  perhaps  find)  the  treas- 
ures hidden  by  the  older  ones.  No  amount  of  torture 
could  force  from  the  prisoners  the  secret  of  their  hidden 
treasures.  They  endured  everything  rather  than  give  up 
their  gold  and  silver.  Till  there  is  another  outbreak  of 
highwaymen,  therefore,  every  traveler  may  go  singing 
through  the  woods  without  the  slightest  fear.  From  rob- 
bers and  wild  beasts  you  are  now  quite  secure." 

"It  is  God  that  I  am  afraid  of,"  said  Michal. 

The  witch  pressed  the  wrists  of  the  young  woman  to- 
gether till  they  cracked  again. 

"  If  ever  you  dare  to  repeat  that  word  again,"  said  she, 

194 


PRETTY  MIC  HAL.  195 

"  I'll  leave  you  in  the  midst  of  this  dark  wood,  and  then 
you  may  either  fly  or  seek  Him  whom  you  fear  so  much  ; 
I'll  wash  my  hands  of  you." 

Then  Michal  said  not  another  word,  but  followed  the 
witch,  who  led  her  so  surely  through  the  sylvan  labyrinth 
that  she  actually  stopped  at  a  place  in  the  midst  of  the 
thickest  thicket,  drew  a  knife  from  out  of  the  trunk  of  a 
tree,  and  showed  it  to  Michal. 

"  Look  !  This  knife  I  stuck  into  that  tree  in  the  broad 
daylight,  as  I  passed  by  this  way,  and  now  I  have  found 
it  again  in  darkest  night." 

Not  an  hour  had  passed,  and  the  moon  still  stood  in 
the  sky,  when  they  arrived  at  the  kopanitscha  of  Gorgo. 

"  Here  we  stop,"  cried  Pirka.  *'  This  is  the  house  where 
the  doves  bill  one  another  on  the  gables." 

Just  then,  however,  all  the  doves  were  asleep  ;  but  in 
the  courtyard  a  woman  was  wandering  about,  who  raised 
her  hands  toward  the  moon,  and  made  all  sorts  of  frantic 
gestures. 

Pirka  greeted  her  with  strangely  sounding  words,  not 
one  of  which  Michal  understood,  and  the  kopanitschar's 
wife  answered  in  the  same  fashion. 

"  Have  you  offered  up  a  witch's  prayer,  and  if  so,  for 
what  have  you  prayed  ?  " 

"  I  have  prayed  that  the  devil  may  take  the  old  vihodar." 

"  He  has  got  him  already.  Janko  bit  him  in  the  neck, 
and  immediately  he  was  a  dead  man." 

"  Beelzebub  be  praised  !  "  cried  the  kopanitschar's  wife, 
and  she  frisked  about  for  joy. 

"  Cook  us  some  supper,  sisterkin,"  said  Pirka  to  Annie. 

"  What  sort  of  a  guest  have  you  brought  me  ?  "  asked 
the  latter. 

"  You  know  well  enough  without  being  told." 

Then  Annie  recognized  Michal,  and   laughed  with  all 


196  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

her  might.     Witches  always  rejoice  when  they  see  an  in- 
nocent soul  rushing  to  perdition. 

With  that  the  pair  of  them  led  her  into  the  kitchen, 
and  made  a  great  fire,  on  which  they  put  sundry  pots. 
But  Pirka  filled  a  smaller  pan  with  water,  and  after  per- 
forming all  sorts  of  mystic  hocus-pocus  over  it,  put  it  also 
on  the  fire,  first  of  all  throwing  into  it  a  scrap  of  paper,  on 
which  the  word  Valentine  was  written. 

"  What  does  that  pot  do  on  the  fire  ? "  asked  Annie. 

"  As  soon  as  all  the  water  in  it  has  boiled  away,  so  that 
nothing  remains  in  it  but  the  scrap  of  paper,  my  buck-goat 
will  bring  this  pretty  little  lady  her  stately  lover.  Make 
ready  the  supper,  I  say,  there  will  be  five  of  us." 

"  I  don't  like  odd  numbers,"  said  Annie  ;  but  she  fortli- 
wilh  fell  to  killing  and  plucking  fowls,  and  baking  little 
cakes. 

Michal  sat  at  the  window  and  shivered. 

During  the  cooking,  Annie  sang  obscene  flower  songs, 
and  Pirka  kept  on  drawing  her  pan  away  from  the  fire 
and  putting  it  on  again. 

Annie  asked  her  why  she  did  that. 

"  When  the  water  boils  fiercely,  my  buck  with  the 
stately  lover  is  running  so  fast  that  the  poor  young  man 
can  hardly  draw  his  breath  ;  but  when  I  remove  the  pan 
from  the  fire,  he  goes  along  more  quietly,  and  the  poor 
fellow  can  take  breath  again." 

In  ordinary  circumstances  Michal  would  have  laughed 
aloud  at  such  superstition.  But  to-day  she  had  gone 
through  so  many  dreadful  things,  and  she  was  so 
staggered  by  the  actual  fulfillment  of  two  of  the  events 
predicted  by  Pirka's  cards,  that  she  dared  not  deny  the 
possibility  of  a  third.  Half  of  the  witch's  prophecy  had 
already  come  to  pass.     She  had  escaped  from  her  hus- 


PRETTY  MIC  HAL.  197 

band's  house,  and  was  now  awaiting  her  lover  in  a 
strange  place.     Everything  was  possible  after  that. 

"  He  is  coming  now.  He  is  quite  near  !  "  cried  Pirka, 
looking  into  the  pan.  "  I  already  hear  the  galloping  of 
my  buck-goat,  I  already  hear  his  four  feet  on  the  roofs 
of  the  houses.  Now  he  is  springing  over  the  Krivan, 
now  he  is  running  along  the  Polish  Saddle.*  Hi  !  Hi  ! 
How  he  is  galloping  !  Quick,  my  little  buck,  quick ! 
quick  !  " 

Michal's  common  sense  was  quite  dazed  by  all  these 
insane  proceedings.  She  was  no  longer  mistress  of  her- 
self. 

"And  now  it's  time  to  dress,"  continued  Pirka,  and 
with  that  she  took  off  Michal's  peasant  garb,  and  arrayed 
her  in  a  rosy  colored  robe.  She  laced  tightly  her  bodice 
to  show  off  her  waist,  and  combed  out  and  plaited  her 
long  tresses  to  make  them  crisp  and  wavy.  Her  sweet- 
heart was  coming,  so  she  must  look  nice  to  please  him. 
The  young  lady  was  quite  bewildered.  She  let  them  do 
what  they  liked  with  her. 

Outside  the  moon  had  gone  down.  It  had  grown 
quite  dark.  A  silent,  starless  night,  dank  with  heavy 
falling  dew. 

"  Now  he'll  be  here  almost  directly,"  cried  the  witch, 
as  the  water  bubbled  away  at  the  bottom  of  the  pan. 

And  now  the  blare  of  a  farogato  began  to  resound 
through  the  silent  night.  Nearer  and  nearer  came  the 
music.  Michal's  heart  beat  quickly.  She  recognized  her 
favorite  song.  She  scarcely  knew  whether  she  was  awake 
or  dreaming,  whether  she  was  in  the  world  or  out  of  it. 
There  was  a  buzzing  in  her  ears.  The  air  around  her 
was  full  of  dancing  specters.  Her  body  seemed  too 
narrow  for  her  soul.  Nearer  and  nearer  came  the  song. 
*  Two  of  the  Karpathian  Alps. 


19^  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  pan,  the  last  drop  of  water  had 
long  since  evaporated. 

"  My  buck-goat  has  arrived,"  cried  the  witch,  in 
triumph. 

At  that  moment,  Valentine  Kalondai  entered  and  ad- 
vanced toward  Michal. 

It  was^no  longer  joy,  it  was  frenzy  which  took  possession 
of  the  young  woman.  Up  she  sprang  with  a  shriek,  and 
then  threw  herself  on  her  beloved's  breast,  wound  her 
arms  round  his  neck,  pressed  her  lips  to  his  mouth  as  if 
she  would  have  inhaled  his  very  soul,  and  wetted  his 
cheeks  with  her  tears. 

How  long  did  they  hold  each  other  thus  embraced  ? 
An  eternity  perhaps,  like  that  which  Mirza  Shah  ex- 
perienced when,  at  the  Persian  Magian's  command,  he 
crept  under  a  tub,  and  dreamed  away  a  whole  lifetime 
in  a  single  moment.  At  least,  Michal  fancied  that  it 
must  have  been  a  very  long  time,  for  on  coming  to  her- 
self again  she  said,  with  a  sigh  :  "  What  a  pity  that  the 
morning  is  breaking !  Look  !  there  is  the  dawn  al- 
ready ?  " 

A  great  light  had  suddenly  sprung  up  in  the  sky. 

"  Ha  !  ha  !  ha  !  "  laughed  Barbara  Pirka,  "  that  cer- 
tainly would  be  a  crazy  sun  which  rose  in  the  west  ! 
What  you  see  there  is  the  morning  sheen  of  hell.  The 
house  of  the  headsman  is  burning.  A  pretty  dawn  that 
certainly  !  " 

The  fire  threw  a  frightful  blood-red  glare  over 
mountain  and  forest,  and  gilded  the  white  rocks  in  the  dis- 
tance as  if  they  too  were  flaming.  The  stars  twinkled 
faintly  through  the  ruddy  glow. 

"  Now  you  may  sleep  in  peace,  my  children,"  said 
Barbara  Pirka.     "  By  the  time  the  young  vihodar  returns, 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  199 

he  will  find  only  the  ruins  of  his  house,  and  will  fancy 
that  his  wife  has  been  burnt  likewise.  He  will  seek  her 
no  more  on  this  earth." 

"  And  even  if  he  should  seek  her,"  cried  Valentine 
defiantly,  "  I  would  not  give  her  up  to  him  though 
heaven  and  earth  commanded  it.  I  would  rather  get 
together  a  band  of  robbers  and  wage  war  against  all 
humanity,  than  allow  my  beloved  to  be  ever  torn  from 
me  again.  Whoever  would  take  my  Michal  away  from 
me  must  tear  her  from  my  arms  on  the  very  scaffold." 

And  he  smote  the  butt-end  of  his  musket  so  violently 
on  the  ground,  that  both  the  witches  leaped  up  to  the 
very  ceiling  for  joy. 

But  Michal  fell  upon  Valentine's  neck  and  stammered  : 

"  With  thee  by  my  side,  I'll  go  forth  into  the  wild  forest 
and  face  cold  and  tempest.  With  thee  I'll  brave  death, 
yea,  damnation  itself.  I  crave  no  other  death  than  the 
death  by  which  thou  diest.  I  desire  no  other  eternity,  be 
it  bliss  or  woe,  than  the  eternity  which  unites  our  soul  in 
one,  my  angel,  my  king,  my  sun  !  " 

And  Simplex  thrust  his  trumpet  through  the  window 
and  sounded  a  wedding  march,  which  awoke  the  echoes 
in  the  neighboring  hills. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Man  cannot  fathom  the  wiles  which  witches  imagine  when  they 
unite  in  wedloclt  lovers  whom  they  have  clandestinely  brought 
together. 

The  kopanitschar's  wife  now  brought  in  the  supper, 
and  all  five  of  them  straightway  sat  down  and  made 
merry  in  honor  of  the  festive  occasion.  This  done, 
the  witches  began  to  feel  frislcy,  and  called  to  Simplex  to 
bring  out  his  trumpet  into  the  courtyard  and  play  them  a 
jig.  He  very  complaisantly  complied  with  this  request, 
sat  him  down  on  the  edge  of  the  well  and  made  music 
for  the  ladies,  while  they,  taking  each  other  by  the  hand, 
danced  a  dance  which  looked  for  all  the  world  as  if  they 
were  possessed.  Their  wooden  shoes  rattled  and  clattered, 
their  disheveled  tresses  floated  in  the  wind,  and  the  terri- 
fied bats  flitted  over  their  heads.  The  flames  of  the  heads- 
man's house  lit  up  this  dance  of  witches,  and  the  wild 
figures,  leaping  in  the  blood-red  glare,  cast  long,  spasmodic 
shadows  on  the  whitewashed  walls  of  the  inn,  just  as  if 
Beelzebub  himself  were  leading  the  frolic. 

"  Blow,  blow,  trumpeter  !  "  they  cried,  and  Simplex 
blew  and  blew  till  his  breast  was  nigh  to  bursting,  and 
yet  he  was  so  bewitched  that  he  could  not  take  the 
trumpet  from  his  mouth,  nay  !  he  even  felt  constrained  to 
drum  all  the  time  with  both  his  heels  on  the  sides  of  the 
well.  If  a  good,  honest  Christian  had  come  upon  this 
spectacle  unawares,  he  would  have  been  rooted  to  the 
ground  with  terror. 

Meanwhile  the  lovers  were  left  to  themselves.     They 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  20I 

had  quite  enough  to  tell  each  other.  First,  Valentine 
made  Michal  tell  him  of  all  the  horrors  she  had  gone 
through,  and  what  desperate  suffering  she  had  endured, 
and  then  he  related  to  her  the  many  contrarieties  which 
had  befallen  himself.  Of  course,  too,  they  did  not  for- 
get to  richly  indemnify  each  other  for  their  past  woes 
by  a  liberal  exchange  of  caresses.  In  particular,  when 
Valentine  recounted  the  history  of  Jigerdilla,  Michal  did 
not  grudge  him  an  ample  compensation  for  the  kisses 
which,  for  her  sake,  he  had  refused  the  Turkish  lady. 
At  the  same  time  Valentine  treated  his  beloved  as  his 
bride  indeed,  but  not  as  his  affianced  wife. 

At  the  first  cockcrow  the  witches  ceased  to  dance. 
Simplex  they  sent  into  the  loft  to  sleep  of  his  fatigue. 
The  kopanitschar's  wife  set  about  preparing  breakfast ; 
but  Pirka  went  into  the  room  of  the  lovers  to  ask  them 
what  they  had  been  dreaming  about.  Then  she  sent 
Valentine  out,  but  whispered  in  his  ear  as  she  passed, 
that  he  might  peep  through  the  window  if  he  liked,  and 
then  she  helped  Michal  on  with  the  cornflower-blue 
dress.     After  that  she  called  the  young  man  in  again. 

Valentine  was  enchanted  at  the  sight  of  the  beautiful 
lady,  and  protested  that  if  she  had  looked  in  the  first 
dress  like  a  bride,  she  looked  in  the  second  one  like  a  saint 
on  an  altar  screen.  Pirka  thereupon  pulled  a  very  wry 
face,  for  she  did  not  like  to  hear  tell  of  saints  and  altars. 
So  she  drove  Valentine  out  again,  and  bade  him  go 
wake  his  friend  who  had  been  dozing  all  night,  and  yet 
was  as  heavy  as  ever.  While  Valentine  was  wrangling 
in  the  loft  with  Simplex,  who  swore  by  hook  and  by 
crook  that  he  had  been  trumpeting  all  night  long  for  the 
benefit  of  the  witches,  and  had  scarcely  had  more  than 
forty  winks,  Pirka  took  oif  Michal's  blue  dress  which 
made  her  look  like  a  saint,  and  arrayed  her  in  the  purple 


202  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

one.     When  Valentine  saw  her  hi  this  he  declared  that 
she  now  looked  just  like  a  queen. 

But  the  witches  tried  to  persuade  Simplex  that  he  had 
only  dreamt  that  he  had  been  playing  all  night,  and  that 
it  was  not  from  overmuch  blowing  of  trumpets  but  from 
excessive  mastication  at  supper  the  night  before,  that 
his  jaws  were  so  sore. 

The  lovers,  too,  protested  that  they  had  heard  noth- 
ing of  the  whole  entertainment.  They  had  been  so 
much  occupied  with  each  other  that  they  had  been  un- 
conscious of  all  else.  They  had  not  only  not  heard  the 
trumpet  of  Simplex,  they  had  not  even  heard  the  clarion 
of  the  Archangel  Uriel  who  (according  to  the  ancient 
formula  :  "  Michal  on  my  right,  Gabriel  on  my  left, 
Raphael  behind  me,  Israel  before  me,  Uriel  above  my 
head  ")  flies  above  the  head  of  each  one  of  us,  and  blows 
his  clarion  whenever  we  are  about  to  plunge  into  some 
dreadful  danger.     Well  for  us  if  we  heed  the  warning  ! 

But  the  lovers  had  heard  nothing. 

When  Annie  served  the  breakfast  (goat's  milk,  cheese, 
and  brandy  mixed  with  honey  and  sugar),  Valentine's 
spirits  rose  so  high  that  he  vowed  over  again  what  he 
had  already  vowed  the  night  before,  viz.  :  that  if  any- 
one tore  away  his  Michal  from  him,  he  would  turn  high- 
wayman and  gather  a  robber  band  around  him. 

But  women  have,  generally  speaking,  more  common 
sense  in  the  broad  light  of  day  than  they  have  at  dead 
of  night  ;  so  Michal  now  said  that  it  need  not  come  to 
that.  Valentine  must  take  her  back  to  her  father's 
house.  There  she  would  bring  a  divorce  suit  against 
her  husband  on  the  plea  that  he  had  married  her  in  a 
wrong  name  and  under  false  pretenses,  and  that  his 
marriage  with  her  was  consequently  invalid.  As  soon 
then  as  the  marriage  was  dissolved,  Valentine  must  come 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  203 

forward  and  woo  her,  when  she  certainly  would  not  send 
him  away  with  a  flea  in  his  ear. 

At  this  Barbara  Pirka  burst  into  a  peal  of  laughter. 

"Trust  to  parsons,  and  you'll  soon  see  what  a  pretty 
dance  they'll  lead  you  !  The  parsons  have  many  creases 
in  their  surplices,  and  they  shake  a  fresh  ordinance  out 
of  every  crease.  Do  what  you  say,  by  all  means  !  Ering 
your  action  against  Henry  Vihodar,  formerly  clerk  in 
holy  orders,  and  now  headsman,  and  you'll  find  that 
justice  is  on  the  side  of  the  longest  purse.  It  is  true 
that  the  vihodar's  house  is  merrily  burning,  but  his 
treasures  in  the  basement  of  the  tower  cannot  be  burnt, 
and  he  will  be  a  very  rich  man.  He'll  confront  you 
with  a  dozen  witnesses  who  will  testify  that  the  Keszmar 
professor  knew  very  well  what  his  son-in-law's  trade 
was.  He  will  manufacture  forged  letters  with  false 
seals,  and  what  will  be  the  end  of  it  all  ?  Why,  Squire 
Valentine  will  be  found  guilty  of  abduction  and  put  out 
of  the  way.  No,  no  !  don't  go  to  law.  You'll  get  no 
good  by  it.     Besides,  I've  a  much  better  plan." 

"  Let's  hear  it  then.  But  mind  !  I  mean  to  be  my 
Valentine's  wife,  not  his  mistress,"  said  Michal. 

"  Yes,  the  pretty  lady  shall  become  her  Valentine's 
wife,  but  she  must  listen  to  me.  She  knows  now  that 
my  cards  always  speak  the  truth.  So  hearken  to  me, 
my  children  !  You  go  out,  Annie  !  We  don't  want  you 
prying  here.  You,  Simplex,  can  stay  where  you  are,  for 
you  know  how  to  hold  your  tongue." 

So  Annie  went  away,  and  as  soon  as  she  was  out  of 
hearing,  Pirka,  in  a  low  whisper,  began  to  expound  her 
crafty  scheme. 

"  Listen  now  !  Not  far  from  here  is  a  town  called 
Bdrtfa.  Every  town,  as  you  know,  has  its  peculiar  laws 
and  customs.     At  Kassa,  for  instance,  clandestine  lovers 


204  PRETTY  MIC  HAL. 

caught  together  are  beheaded.  At  Bartfa  they  are 
much  more  cruel.  There,  if  a  lass  accosts  a  lad  in  the 
streets  after  vespers,  or  if  a  lad  is  caught  talking  with  a 
lassie  in  a  gateway,  the  watchman  lays  hands  on  the 
pair  and  claps  them  into  jail.  Next  morning,  without 
any  of  the  usual  preliminary  fiddle-faddle,  without  even 
asking  for  their  baptismal  certificate  or  requiring  the 
consent  of  their  parents,  or  obtaining  a  special  license 
or  dispensation,  the  magistrates  send  for  a  parson  and 
splice  them  straight  off.  Only  as  man  and  wife  are  they 
permitted  to  pass  through  the  city  gates.  Hence  the 
proverb  : 

If  thou  comest  from  Bartfa  without  a  wife, 
Good  luck  will  befriend  thee  the  rest  of  thy  life. 

And  a  marriage  contracted  at  Bartfa  is  valid  every- 
where." 

"But,"  sagely  objected  Michal,  "supposing  one  of  the 
parties  be  already  married  ? " 

"  Then  both  parties  are  publicly  scourged  to  death. 
But  I've  taken  precautions  against  that  also.  My  late 
pretty  mistress,  the  young  vihodar's  wife,  is  no  more. 
Her  father  fancies  that  he  has  married  her  to  the  pastor 
of  Great  Leta ;  but  his  reverence  also  is  no  longer  to  be 
found  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  people  of  Great 
Leta  have  already  provided  themselves  with  another  curer 
of  souls,  and  his  wife  is  an  old  woman  with  a  hunch  on 
her  back.  Henry  Vihodar  firmly  believes  that  his  wife 
has  perished  in  his  burning  house,  from  which,  indeed, 
no  living  soul  could  possibly  have  escaped  when  once  the 
sulphur  and  the  tar  caught  fire.  Besides,  the  young  heads- 
man will  soon  marry  again.  So  you  two  must  come 
along  with  me  to  Bartfa,  where  I'll  pretend  that  the  pretty 
lady  is  my  daughter,  and  will  put  her  out  to  service.  You, 
squire,  must  seek  a  farm  laborer's  place  in  the  same  town. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  205 

The  rest  depends  entirely  on  yourselves.  If  once  you 
are  caught  together,  you'll  not  be  allowed  to  depart 
thence  except  as  man  and  wife,  and  then  you  can  go  to 
Where  did  you  say  you  lived  ? " 

It  was  just  on  the  tip  of  Valentine's  tongue  to  say  Kassa, 
when  Simplex  anticipated  him  and  said  Klausenburg, 
which  is  in  the  opposite  direction.  For  it  is  also  the 
duty  of  a  true  friend  when  he  sees  that  his  comrade  can- 
not lie,  to  lie  for  him.  And  here  it  was  very  necessary 
not  to  let  the  witch  know  where  Valentine  lived,  lest  she 
might  take  it  into  her  head,  at  some  future  day,  to  pay 
him  and  his  wife  a  visit  when  they  least  desired  it. 

"Very  well,"  pursued  the  witch,  "then  you  can  go  to 
Klausenburg  and  take  your  marriage  certificate  with  you. 
No  one  will  think  of  asking  any  further  questions.  Peo- 
ple will  say,  they've  been  married  at  Bartfa,  and  no  more 
will  be  said  about  it.     Are  you  pleased  with  my  plan  ?" 

They  were  so  pleased  with  it  that  they  fell  to  kissing 
each  other  over  and  over  again,  and  in  their  joy  had  al- 
most wasted  a  kiss  or  two  on  Pirka  herself,  which  would 
have  been  a  useless  piece  of  extravagance. 

"  But  we  cannot  take  service  with  all  our  silk  clothes 
and  gewgaws,"  said  Pirka.  "  We  must  put  on  the  rustic 
dress  in  which  we  came  hither." 

Michal  readily  consented  to  this  change  of  raiment, 
and  going  into  the  adjoining  room,  she  took  off  her  dress, 
her  earrings,  and  her  necklace.  Her  three  dresses  and 
all  her  jewels  she  gave  to  Pirka,  who  had  calculated  on 
obtaining  these  perquisites  all  along. 

"  Do  you  think  Valentine  will  like  me  in  this  dress  ? " 
asked  the  pretty  young  lady,  as  she  put  on  her  sober 
weeds  again. 

"It  won't  quite  do  yet,"  said  Pirka.  "Even  through 
this  rustic  garb  people  might  easily  spy  out  the  fine  lady. 


2o6  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

We  cannot  take  service  with  this  rose  and  milk  complex- 
ion, for  everyone  would  immediately  ask  us  out  of  what 
castle  we  had  escaped.  We  must  find  a  remedy  against 
that  also.  We  must  make  freckles  on  our  cheeks  and 
foreheads,  so  that  we  may  not  look  so  pretty." 

"But  will  Valentine  love  me  if  I  am  ugly?" 

"Sweetheart !  he  would  love  you  even  if  you  were  as 
hideous  as  I  am." 

With  that,  the  witch  took  freshly  plucked  wolf's  milk 
flowers,  the  juice  of  which  rubbed  into  the  skin  leaves  be- 
hind spots  resembling  freckles  which  cannot  be  washed 
away  by  water,  and  only  very  gradually  fade  away.  Pirka 
well  rubbed  Michal's  face  with  the  juice  of  the  wolf's  milk 
flowers  till  she  was  as  speckled  and  as  spotted  as  a  pea 
hen.  It  was  as  well  that  there  was  no  mirror  at  hand 
to  tell  pretty  Michal  what  a  fright  she  had  become. 

This  done,  Pirka  led  her  back  to  Valentine,  and  said 
to  him  :  "  Well !  how  does  my  serving  wench  please 
you?"  But  he,  without  troubling  himself  in  the  least 
about  the  freckles,  embraced  his  beloved  as  fervently  as 
before. 

When,  however,  the  kopanitschar's  wife  came  in  again 
and  saw  the  ugly  serving  maid,  she  asked  what  had  be- 
come of  the  wondrously  beautiful  lady  who  had  lately 
been  there. 

Pirka  replied  that  she  had  bestraddled  a  broomstick, 
flown  out  of  the  window,  and  left  this  wench  behind  in 
her  stead. 

Annie  believed  Pirka,  and  bawled  to  Michal  to  take 
herself  off  and  feed  the  swine. 

So  little  did  she  recognize  Michal. 

Then  Pirka  took  her  bundle  on  her  back  and  went 
off  with  Michal  and  Valentine  to  show  them  the  way  to 
Bartfa,  while  Simplex  stayed  behind  with  the  kopanits- 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  207 

char's  wife,  so  that  in  case  the  headsman's  assistants 
should  stop  there  for  a  drink  on  their  way  back  from 
Eperies,  he  might  give  them  an  earful  of  lies.  And  that 
is  really  what  he  did  do.  Simplex  actually  saw  and 
spoke  to  Henry  himself,  and  made  him  believe  that  he, 
Simplex,  had  stood  close  to  the  burning  house,  and  seen 
and  heard  the  two  women  shrieking  for  help  behind  a 
window  ;  but  no  one  could  get  at  them,  and  the  whole 
tower  in  which  they  were  had  been  burnt  to  the  ground. 
Henry  Catsrider,  therefore,  might  be  quite  sure  that  he 
had  become  an  orphan  and  a  widower  on  the  same  day. 

At  Bartfa,  meanwhile,  Pirka  got  Michal  a  place  in  a 
respectable  shopkeeper's  family,  where  they  willingly 
took  her  in  because  she  was  so  very  plain.  It  was  a  sort 
of  guarantee  that  no  one  would  attempt  to  court  her,  and 
thereby  deprive  them  of  a  useful  servant. 

Yet  even  this  maid  only  kept  her  place  for  three  days, 
for  on  the  evening  of  the  fourth  day,  they  caught  her 
talking  in  a  gateway  with  a  farm  laborer  from  over  the 
way,  who  had  only  come  to  Bartfa  a  few  days  before. 
The  guilty  pair  were  immediately  seized  ;  for  the  people 
of  Bartfa,  who  took  good  care  never  to  fall  into  their  own 
mouse  traps,  were  immensely  delighted  whenever  they 
could  catch  strangers  in  them.  So  both  man  and  maid 
were  committed  to  jail,  and  taken  next  day  before  the 
clergyman,  when  they  were  married  in  due  form  and 
then  discharged.  In  the  marriage  certificate  handed 
to  them  on  their  departure,  Valentine  Kalondai's  name 
stood  there  right  enough,  but  Michal  was  therein  described 
as  Milly  Barbara. 

Neither  of  them  reflected,  at  the  time,  that  this  was  a 

false  certificate  ;  all  that  they  then  thought  about  was 

that  they  at  last  belonged  to  each  other. 

Barbara  Pirka  had  kept  very  quiet  till   after  the  wed- 
14 


2o8  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

ding  was  over,  and  then  Valentine  gave  her  all  the  money 
he  liad  about  him  (some  hundred  and  fifty  ducats  or  so), 
only  keeping  enough  to  buy  victuals  for  his  wife  and 
himself  on  their  way  home.     Then  he  said  to  Pirka  : 

*'  Now  we  are  going  to  Transylvania,  but  you  had  bet- 
ter go  to  Poland,  for  here  you  might  be  called  to  account 
for  the  valuables  in  your  possession." 

Pirka  lauglied. 

"  I  am  going,  I  am  going,  and  I  will  not  stop  till  I  get 
to  Poland.  I  know  that  you  are  very  fond  of  me, 
children  ;  yet  for  all  that  you  would  like  to  see  two 
foreign  lands  lying  between  me  and  you." 

And  at  that  time  two  foreign  lands  really  did  lie  be- 
tween Transylvania  and  Poland.  The  chroniclers  called 
them  Hungary  and  Turkey. 


X 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  mummery  receives  its  due  punishment  ;  nevertheless,  Mercy 
and  Compassion  come  to  the  mummer's  aid,  and  deliver  her  out 
of  all  her  troubles. 

When  Valentine  got  home  to  Kassa,  he  introduced  his 
beloved  Miljy  to  his  mother  with  these  words  : 

"  My  dear  lady  mother  !  you  used  to  say  that  if  she 
whom  I  love  were  even  a  poor  serving  maid,  you  would 
not  consider  her  origin  too  curiously,  but  if  only  she  had 
a  good  heart,  would  accept  her  as  your  daughter-in-law. 
Well  !  See  now,  I've  brought  you  my  beloved  wife,  and 
here  she  is  !  " 

Milly's  face,  we  may  add,  was  still  terribly  disfigured 
by  the  freckles  which  the  wolf's  milk  flower  juice  had 
eaten  into  her  skin. 

Good  Dame  Sarah  smote  her  hands  together. 

"  Well,  my  dear  son  !  I'll  only  say  that  if  this  was  the 
young  person  for  whose  sake  you  could  desert  your 
mother,  and  rather  endure  the  Turkish  slavery  than  re- 
nounce her  and  play  her  false — then,  I  say  you  are  as  im- 
movable as  Mount  Sion  itself  ;  and  if  you  can  really  love 
this  young  person  so  very  much  she  must  have  within  her 
hundreds  of  good  qualities." 

"And  so  indeed  she  has,"  returned  Valentine,  and  he 
there  and  then  kissed  Milly's  freckled  face.  What  cared 
he  though  the  whole  world  thought  his  wife  ugly,  so  long 
as  he  knew  that  she  was  beautiful  ? 

In  the  very  first  week  of  their  acquaintance,  Dame 
Sarah  severely  tested  her  daughter-in-law  in  every  possi- 

209 


2IO  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

ble  way,  and  discovered  that  she  was  an  angel  from  the 
crown  of  her  head  to  the  soles  of  her  feet.  She  was 
dutiful,  obedient,  not  fastidious  in  her  work,  brisk, 
cleanly,  early  to  rise  and  late  to  bed,  sweet-tempered,  a 
;ii'eat  stopper-at-home,  modest,  and  shamefaced.  And 
Dame  Sarah  had  made  up  her  mind  to  be  very  strict  with 
her ;  to  find  fault  with  everything  she  did  ;  and  scold 
and  chide  her  on  every  possible  occasion.  But  this 
scolding  and  chiding  was  heavenly  music  to  poor  Milly's 
ears,  compared  with  what  she  had  been  obliged  to  endure 
at  that  other  house,  so  that  the  only  effect  of  Dame 
Sarah's  fiercest  anger  on  Milly  was  to  make  her  kiss  her 
mother-in-law's  hands  and  thank  her  for  the  scolding 
with  tears  of  gratitude.  It  was  equally  true,  indeed,  that 
it  was  extremely  difficult  for  Dame  Sarah  to  be  really 
angry.  Her  face  was  so  round  that  no  wrinkling  of  her 
forehead  could  make  it  look  angular,  and  her  voice  was 
so  soft  that  even  her  chiding  seemed  like  friendly  coax- 
ing. Milly  had  never  known  a  mother.  It  had  always 
been  the  wish  of  her  heart  to  find  a  mother  in  her  hus- 
band's house.  And  now  she  had  found  what  she  had 
wished  for,  and  her  soul  was  satisfied. 

When  Valentine  brought  Milly  home,  she  possessed 
nothing  in  the  world  but  the  clothes  on  her  back.  Dame 
Sarah  chided  her  daughter-in-law  again  and  again  be- 
cause of  her  bad  and  scanty  attire.  Then  she  bought 
her  woolen  stuff  for  a  suit  of  clothes,  cut  out  the  pattern 
herself,  and  threw  it  to  Milly,  that  she  might  make  her- 
self a  dress  by  next  Sunday,  with  which  to  go  to  church 
and  show  herself  among  respectable  people. 

And  Michal  had  to  pretend  that  she  did  not  understand 
a  word  of  what  her  mother-in-law  explained  to  her.  She 
who  had  manufactured  the  most  recondite  tarts  and  cakes 
at  home,  and  had  been  far  famed  as  a  model  Housewife, 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  211 

now  listened  in  silence  while  her  mother-in-law  told  her 
how  a  simple  soup  was  made  !  She  dared  not  even  be- 
tray her  knowledge  of  needlework  and  millinery.  She 
dared  not  say  that  she  could  stitch  beautifully,  and  even 
weave  lace.  She  who  was  so  clever  with  her  fingers  now 
stitched  so  clumsily  that  Dame  Sarah  had  to  take  half 
her  work  to  pieces  again.  She  held  her  needle  so  awk- 
wardly, and  her  stitches  were  so  irregular,  and  full  of 
knots  and  crinkles,  that  when  she  tried  on  her  Sunday 
dress,  which  had  cost  her  so  much  trouble,  it  was  found 
to  be  a  perfectly  absurd  misfit.  In  front  it  was  too  long, 
and  behind  it  was  too  short  ;  where  it  ought  to  have  fit- 
ted tightly  it  bulged  out,  and  vice  versa. 

And  yet  this  dress  pleased  her. 

And,  stranger  still,  her  husband  liked  her  in  it  too. 

The  town  of  Kassa  had  a  lot  to  say  about  the  lady 
whom  Valentine  had  brought  home  as  his  wife. 

"  Ah,  well !  such  a  treasure  was  quite  worth  the  trouble 
which  Squire  Valentine  took  to  discover  it !  " 

"  But,  at  least,  she  is  of  very  distinguished  parentage  : 
her  father  was  lord-lieutenant  of  the  sheep  !  " 

"  Such  a  beauty  has  not  been  seen  in  Kassa  for  many 
a  long  day  !  " 

"  And  all  that  is  as  nothing  compared  with  her  riches. 
Why,  when  she  climbs  up  a  nut  tree  to  hang  out  the 
clothes,  she  leaves  nothing  behind  her  that  she  can  call 
her  own  !  " 

Everyone  looked  forward  to  the  day  when  Dame  Sarah 
would  present  her  daughter-in-law  to  her  acquaintances, 
the  notabilities  of  Kassa, 

And  what  would  they  have  said  if  they  only  could  have 
seen  her  in  a  dress  of  her  own  making  ! 

The  anxiously  awaited  Sunday  dawned  at  last.  In  the 
early  morning,  however,  a  sergeant  came  and  tapped  at 


212  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

Valentine's  window,  awoke  him  from  his  slumbers,  and 
told  him  that  his  captain.  Count  Hommonai,  commanded 
him  to  mount  his  horse  at  once,  and  ride  into  the  market 
place  fully  armed. 

Valentine  was  still  a  soldier,  a  corporal  in  fact.  Obey 
he  must.  He  therefore  took  leave  of  his  mother  and  his 
wife,  armed  himself,  and  was  at  his  post  at  the  appointed 
time.  Thence,  without  showing  the  slightest  regard  for 
the  sacred ness  of  the  Sabbath,  the  captain  marched  off 
his  troops  straightway,  for  tidings  had  come  that  a  host 
of  Turks  had  penetrated  as  far  as  Naggy  Ida,  burning 
all  the  hamlets  in  their  way.  Count  Hommonai,  therefore, 
did  not  take  very  long  to  reflect,  but  quickly  collected 
two  hundred  horsemen,  and  set  out  from  Kassa  to  chas- 
tise the  Turkish  marauders. 

Thus  it  was  that  Milly  or  Michal  was  left  entirely  in 
charge  of  Dame  Sarah. 

Early  in  the  morning  the  young  lady  put  on  the  new 
dress  that  was  so  admirably  adapted  to  spoil  her  pretty 
figure  altogether.     Then  she  prepared  to  go  to  church. 

When  she  was  quite  ready,  Dame  Sarah  said  to  her  : 
"  Take  off  that  dress,  you  shall  not  go  to  church  in  that, 
but  in  another." 

And  with  that  she  opened  her  lofty  wardrobe  and 
took  out  her  own  beautiful  silk  dress  which  she  had  worn 
in  her  younger  days,  her  bodice  embroidered  with  gold 
flowers,  her  apron  fringed  with  broad  lace,  her  costly 
cambric  pocket-handkerchief,  and  gave  them  all  to  her 
daughter-in-law,  and  while  she  laced  the  bodice  on  to 
Michal's  slim  waist,  she  said,  with  great  self-complacency  : 
='I  was  just  as  slim  myself,  dear,  in  the  first  years  of  my 
marriage.  In  those  days  this  was  my  gala  costume,  I've 
never  worn  it  since." 

Then  she  put  her  beautiful  gold-laced  coif  on  Michal's 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  213 

head,  and  praised  at  the  same  time  her  daughter-in  law's 
lovely  hair.  That,  at  any  rate,  was  a  thing  of  beauty,  let 
her  face  be  never  so  ugly. 

Then  she  took  her  gorgeously  attired  daughter-in-law 
along  with  her,  first  of  all  thrusting  into  her  right  hand 
the  best  bound  prayer  book  with  a  posy  in  it.  How 
Michal's  silk  dress  rustled  as  she  walked  along  the 
streets  ! 

The  young  wife  was  perfectly  happy,  not  so  much  be- 
cause she  actually  wore  the  silk  dress,  as  because  Valen- 
tine's mother  thought  her  worthy  to  wear  it. 

Yet  her  happiness  was  only  to  last  till  she  got  to 
church. 

The  old  cathedral  of  Kassa  had  again  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  Protestants,  and  they  now  held  divine  ser- 
vice in  it.  The  first  row  of  pews  was  assigned  to  the 
wives  of  eminent  burgesses  who  had  held  office  in  the 
town.  Among  them  sat  Dame  Sarah,  for  her  late  hus- 
band had  been  sheriff,  and  she  herself  was  a  rich  woman. 

In  the  corner  pew  sat  the  wife  of  old  Furmender. 
With  her  pointed  nose  and  large  gray  coif,  she  resembled 
a  guinea  fowl,  and  when  she  spoke  the  resemblance  was 
more  striking  than  ever.  Beside  her  sat  her  maiden 
daughter,  and  next  to  her  there  was  room  for  a  dozen 
more  at  the  very  least. 

When  Dame  Sarah  and  pretty  Michal  came  to  the  pew 
Dame  Furmender  rose  from  her  place  and  let  Dame 
Sarah  pass  in,  but  when  Michal  tried  to  follow  her,  Dame 
Furmender  sat  back  in  her  place  again,  thrust  her  elbows 
on  to  the  desk  in  front,  and  would  not  let  Michal  pass. 

"Servants  must  sit  in  the  back  seats,"  said  she. 

"That  is  the  wife  of  my  son  Valentine,"  cried  Dame 
Sarah,  much  hurt. 

"  He  too  is  nothing  but  an  expelled  student  and  a 


214  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

common  soldier,"  replied  Dame  Fiirmender,  who  excelled 
at  repartee. 

At  this  Michal  burst  into  tears. 

She  was  not  distressed  on  her  own  account,  but  she 
could  not  bear  to  hear  her  husband  run  down. 

And  now  all  the  women  crowded  together  at  the 
corner  of  the  pew,  and  turned  their  backs  upon  her 
just  to  let  her  know  that  there  was  no  room  for  her 
anywhere. 

Poor  Michal  could  have  sunk  into  the  ground  for  shame, 
when  all  at  once  a  wondrously  beautiful,  Jiandsomely 
dressed  lady  stepped  out  of  a  richly  carved  pew  covered 
with  heraldic  emblazonments  which  stood  close  to  the 
central  column,  hastened  toward  Michal,  and  said  to  her  : 
"  What  !  is  there  no  room  for  the  young  lady  ?  Pray 
come  into  my  pew,  there  is  room  enough  there."  And 
with  that  she  took  pilloried  Michal  by  the  hand,  led 
her  to  her  own  pew,  made  her  sit  down  beside  her, 
and  pushed  toward  her  her  beautiful  gold-clasped 
prayer  book,  so  that  they  might  both  sing  out  of  it 
together. 

Now  this  lady  was  the  Countess  Isabella  Hommonai 
the  wife  of  the  Captain-General  and  Commander  of 
Kassa,  whom  the  latter,  as  we  have  already  mentioned, 
had  married  a  short  time  before. 

The  whole  sisterhood  of  backbiters  was  most  cruelly 
checkmated,  their  vexation  nearly  choked  them. 

But  Michal,  with  streaming  eyes,  prayed  the  Almighty 
to  protect  her  beloved  Valentine  in  his  present  great 
peril,  save  him  from  wounds  and  captivity,  and  bring  him 
back  safe  and  sound.  She  had  nothing  else  to  pray 
for. 

And  when  divine  service  was  over,  the  countess  did  not 
consider  it  beneath  her  dignity  to  accompany  Michal  out 


PRETTY  MIC  HAL.  215 

of  church,  waited  in  the  porch  for  Dame  Sarah,  and  then 
said  to  Michal,  who  gratefully  kissed  her  hand,  that  she 
must  make  haste  and  come  and  pay  her  a  visit  at  the 
castle. 

All  the  other  women  heard  it  and  were  ready  to  burst 
for  envy. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Wherein  is  shown  how  g^eat  a  force  the  will  of  a  woman  is,  and  how 
quickly  it  can  alter  the  order  of  things  which  man  devises. 

Three  days  later,  Count  Hommonai  brought  back  his 
.forces,  after  successfully  driving  the  Turkish  freebooters 
into  the  neighboring  county  ;  it  was  for  the  neighbor- 
ing county  to  drive  them  on  still  further. 

Valentine  came  riding  safe  and  sound  into  his  own 
courtyard,  and  great  was  Michal's  joy  when  she  saw  him 
return  in  such  a  merry  mood.  Nevertheless,  she  surren- 
dered the  first  kisses  to  her  mother-in-law. 

"Well,  have  you  cut  down  many  Turks?"  inquired 
Dame  Sarah. 

"  I've  felled  a  few,  but  I  did  not  count  how  many." 

'*  I'm  only  glad  they've  done  you  no  harm,"  said 
Michal  joyfully. 

"You've  been  praying  for  me,  darling,  have  you 
not  ?  Were  you  not  in  church,  did  you  sit  by  my 
mother  ? " 

"  Oh,  no  !  "  cried  Dame  Sarah,  eager  to  tell  every- 
thing. "That  wicked  old  Fiirmender  woman  would  not 
let  her  come  into  the  pew.  She  said  to  her  :  *  Servant 
maids  must  sit  behind.'  And  do  you  know  who  it  was 
that  found  her  a  seat  after  all  ?  Why  the  good  Countess 
Hommonia  !  Yes,  the  countess  herself  actually  made 
Michal  come  and  sit  down  beside  her  in  her  own  beautiful 
pew." 

Valentine  snatched  his  cap  from  his  head  as  if  the 
countess  stood  before  him  in  person. 

2l6 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  217 

"  God  bless  her  for  it  !  You  thanked  her  for  her  gra- 
ciousness,  I  hope  ?  " 

"  At  the  time  we  hardly  knew  what  to  say,  we  were  so 
confused  ;  but  her  ladyship  has  invited  Michal  to  the 
castle." 

"  And  have  you  been  ?  " 

"  Not  yet,  I  waited  for  you.     We  must  go  together." 

Valentine  scratched  his  head. 

"  With  Count  Hommonai  I  should  think  nothing  of 
going  against  a  whole  host  of  dog-headed  Tartars,  but  how 
can  I  approach  the  countess  ?  She  is  such  a  fine  lady, 
and  I  am  such  a  stupid  blockhead." 

But  he  had  to  go  all  the  same,  and  that  at  once,  for 
scarcely  had  he  had  time  to  change  his  clothes  when  the 
captain's  carriage  drove  up  to  the  door,  and  a  heyduke 
brought  the  message  that  the  count  and  countess  wished 
to  speak  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kalondai. 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  what  will  be  the  end  of  it," 
stammered  Valentine.  He  was  so  nervous  that  he  could 
not  even  tie  his  neckerchief  properly,  and  kept  on  button- 
ing his  coat  at  one  moment  a  button  too  high,  and  at  an- 
other a  button  too  low,  so  that  he  had  to  begin  it  all  over 
again. 

But  he  had  to  go,  for  the  carriage  was  waiting 
outside. 

Dame  Sarah  now  gave  her  daughter-in-law  another 
dress  to  wear,  a  trifle  simpler  than  the  former  one,  and 
hung  a  handsome  mantle  round  her  shoulders. 

The  Countess  Hommonai  come  forward  to  meet  her 
guests  to  the  very  door  of  the  room,  and  received  Michal 
with  great  cordiality. 

"  And  to  think,  my  dear  !  "  said  she,  "  that  while  I 
was  delivering  you  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Philistines 
last  Sunday,  your  husband  should  be  rescuing  mine  from 


2lS  PRETTY  MIC  HAL. 

the  hands  of  the  Turks  !     But  you  have  heard  all  about 
it  already,  I  dare  say  ?  " 

"  I  have  heard  nothing.  My  husband  never  boasts  of 
his  exploits." 

"  He  never  boasts,  eh  ?     Then  he's  all  the  more  a  man." 

Valentine  grew  fiery  red. 

They  had  got  thus  far,  when  the  count  himself  entered 
the  countess's  chamber.  And  he  was  as  handsome  a 
man  as  she  was  a  woman.  He  had  long,  chestnut-brown 
hair  rolling  down  his  shoulders,  red  cheeks,  an  open 
forehead,  a  well-twisted  mustache,  and  a  stately  figure. 

And  the  count  also  was  very  kind  to  them  both,  and 
ignoring  altogether  the  fact  that  he  was  a  magnate  and  a 
captain,  while  Valentine  was  only  a  simple  gentleman  and 
a  corporal,  he  held  out  his  hand  and  shook  Valentine's 
so  vigorously  that  Valentine  grew  visibly. 

But  the  countess  made  Michal  sit  down  beside  her  on 
the  sofa,  which  was  covered  with  a  beautiful  gobelin. 

Valentine  thought  that  Michal,  now  that  she  was  irl 
polite  society,  would  put  on  the  fine  manners  she  had 
learnt  at  home  and  thus  betray  herself.  All  the  more 
pleasantly  surprised  was  he,  therefore,  when  he  saw  that 
Milly  could  clean  forget  Michal,  so  well  did  she  know 
how  to  fall  into  the  ways  of  the  rustics.  First  of  all,  she 
shyly  hesitated  to  sit  down  at  all.  Then  she  dusted  the 
corner  of  the  sofa  a  little  with  her  skirt  before  sitting 
down  on  the  edge  of  it,  just  as  the  country  people  are 
wont  to  do,  at  which  the  countess  secretly  smiled. 

"  Yes,  my  husband  would  certainly  at  this  moment  be  a 
prisoner  among  the  Turks,"  said  the  countess  to  Milly, 
"  if  your  husband  had  not  saved  him.  Mine  had 
ventured  forward  a  little  too  far.  When  the  Turks  had 
been  put  to  flight,  and  the  hussars  were  busy  tying  the 
prisoners  together   in  couples,  my   lord  captain   took  it 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  219 

into  his  head  to  capture  the  pasha  single-handed.  The 
pasha,  however,  had  already  taken  to  his  heels,  and  no- 
body had  a  horse  swift  enough  to  catch  him  but  my  hus- 
band, who  accordingly  overtook  and  captured  him.  But 
while  he  was  securing  him,  up  came  the  pasha's  attend- 
iints,  who  threw  a  hair  lasso  round  my  husband's  neck 
and  pulled  him  from  his  horse.  Then  they  began  to 
iiale  him  away,  when  Kalondai  preceived  the  danger  of 
his  captain,  and  dashed  forward  at  the  head  of  two  of  his 
men.  The  Turks,  overtaken,  and  thus  prevented  from 
dragging  away  my  husband  alive,  at  once  resolved  to  kill 
him,  and  one  of  them  drew  a  saber  to  cut  off  his  head. 
But  Kalondai  was  quicker  than  the  Turk,  and  cut  him 
down  with  a  single  blow.  Thus  he  saved  my  husband's 
life  and  liberty.  The  mark  of  the  cord  is  still  visible  on 
my  husband's  neck,  and  the  cord  itself  (which  he  has 
brought  home  with  him)  I  shall  always  preserve  among 
my  curiosities.  So  now  you  see  how  well  we  did  in  pray- 
ing together  out  of  the  same  prayer  book.  You  have  a 
brave  husband  !  " 

Valentine's  heart  swelled  with  pride  at  this  great 
praise. 

"And  he  shall  be  rewarded  for  his  valor,"  put  in  the 
count.  "  I'll  give  him  the  pick  of  the  prisoners  and  of 
the  captured  horses,  and  I  make  him  my  lieutenant 
besides." 

"  I  thank  my  gracious  lord  for  his  goodness,"  replied 
Valentine  (he  was  never  at  a  loss  when  he  had  men  to 
deal  with,  it  was  only  with  women  that  he  felt  shy)  ;  "  if 
I  may  choose,  I'll  pick  out  from  among  the  captives  a 
good-natured  fellow  of  humble  rank  who  may  help  my 
mother  in  her  household  duties.  A  horse  I  don't  want. 
I  am  content  with  that  I  have.  But  if  my  lord  captain 
will  do  me  a  favor,  1  beg  of  him  a  better  horse  for  my 


220  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

comrade  Simplex,  the  field-trumpeter,  for  his  present  nag 
is  lame.  As  to  my  promotion  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant, 
I  thank  my  lord  captain  for  it,  but  I  must  decline  it. 
That  is  no  post  for  one  like  me  who  has  never  learnt  the 
art  of  war.  I  should  like,  however,  to  make  another  re- 
quest of  my  gracious  lord.  It  is  the  inmost  wish  of  my 
poor  mother  that  I  should  relieve  her  of  the  cares  of  the 
business,  which  is  a  heavy  burden  to  her.  I  therefore 
beg  permission  to  leave  the  service  that  1  may  carry  on 
the  trade  of  a  butcher." 

The  count  laughed. 

"But  you  have  clean  forgotten  one  of  your  best  argu- 
ments  :  '  As  I  have  only  just  been  married,  I  would 
much  rather  remain  at  home  with  my  wife  than  scamper 
after  the  foe  ! '  You  are  right.  I  would  say  the  same  if 
I  only  could.  I'll  release  you  at  once  from  your  military 
service." 

"  But  not  that  you  may  become  a  butcher,"  said  the 
countess.  "  A  man  like  you  deserves  a  better  place. 
The  post  of  castellan  has  become  vacant,  and  my  husband 
has  the  gift  of  it.  My  dear,  you  must  make  Mr.  Kalondai 
our  castellan." 

''  It  shall  be  done,"  declared  the  count. 

"  Alas,  your  ladyship  !  "  cried  Milly,  when  she  saw  that 
her  husband  could  not  immediately  find  an  answer,  "  I 
fear  me  greatly  that  my  husband  will  never  do  for  such  a 
post  as  that.  He  is,  like  me,  very  ignorant.  He  did  not 
learn  very  much  at  school  and  they  kicked  him  out  at  last. 
Now,  a  castellan  has  to  speak  with  many  great  lords,  and 
read  many  letters  which  are  written  in  Latin  and  German, 
and  even  French  perhaps.  How  could  my  poor  dear 
husband  read  and  answer  all  these  letters  ?  A  mischief 
would  surely  come  of  it." 

"  T  tell  you  what,"  said  the  countess  ;  "  I  know  Latin, 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  221 

German,  and  French.  Come  to  me  at  the  castle  twice  a 
day,  and  I'll  instruct  you  in  all  those  languages.  Nay, 
you  must.  I  have  nothing  else  to  do,  and  what  you  learn 
from  me  you  must  teach  your  husband  at  home,  and  thus 
he  will  very  soon  know  everything  required  of  him  in  his 
new  office." 

"That  will  do  very  well,"  said  the  count. 

Now  it  would  have  been  downright  rudeness  to  have 
rejected  such  a  generous  offer.  A  greater  reward  and 
distinction  they  could  not  have  desired.  Nevertheless, 
they  resolved  to  keep  the  matter  secret  and  not  even  tell 
it  to  Dame  Sarah,  who  would  certainly  have  boasted  of  it 
all  over  the  town.  All  they  let  her  know  was  that  the 
countess  had  permitted  Milly  to  come  to  the  castle  daily 
to  learn  cookery  from  her  cook  and  stitching  from  her 
housekeeper.  Now  tve  know  that  Milly  could  do  all  these 
things  ever  so  long  ago  ;  but  the  astonishment  of  Dame 
Sarah  was  great  indeed  when  her  daughter-in-law,  every 
time  she  returned  from  the  castle,  proceeded  to  manu- 
facture some  new  cake  or  pastry,  while  she  soon  hemmed 
handkerchiefs  so  beautifully  that  it  was  a  marvel  how 
she  did  it. 

It  was  also  a  great  surprise  for  Dame  Sarah  when 
Valentine  chose  for  her  fromamong  the  imprisoned  Turks 
a  good-humored  fellow  who  had  been  a  butcher's  ap- 
prentice in  his  native  place.  To  him  the  shop  could 
safely  be  intrusted,  for  a  Turk,  when  properly  treated, 
is  an  upright,  diligent,  and  sober  servant,  and  devoted  to 
his  ma.ster.  Dame  Sarah  treated  him  like  her  own  son, 
and  would  not  allow  him  to  be  branded,  as  was  usually 
done  in  those  days. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Wherein  occur  such  astounding  transformations  that  people  are  scarcely 
able  to  recognize  their  very  selves.  Michal,  however,  is  calumni- 
ated in  a  matter  wherein  she  is  absolutely  innocent. 

However  great  was  the  astonishment  of  Dame  Sarah 
at  Milly's  rapid  proficiency  in  the  culinary  and  other  female 
sciences,  it  was  as  nothing  compared  with  the  astonish- 
ment of  the  Countess  Hommonai  at  the  swift  apprehen- 
sion of  her  pupil.  You  had  only  to  read  a  passage  over 
to  her  once,  and  she  immediately  knew  it  by  heart,  and 
what  is  more,  never  again  forgot  it.  She  could  repeat 
one  hundred  foreign  words  after  hearing  them  pronounced 
for  the  first  time.  "This  young  woman  is  a  genius,"  said 
the  countess  to  her  husband.  She  had  no  idea  that  her 
pupil  had  learnt  long  ago  what  she  was  now  teaching  her. 

Moreover,  the  countess  gradually  weaned  her  from  all 
her  boorish  habits,  and  accustomed  her  to  polite  manners, 
which  Milly  appropriated  all  the  more  readily  as  they 
were  what  she  had  always  been  used  to,  whereas  her  rus- 
ticity was  a  mere  disguise  and  pretense. 

Wonderful,  too,  was  the  scientific  progress  which  Milly 
brought  about  in  worthy  Valentine,  her  husband. 

For  Valentine  had  taken  her  at  her  word,  and  made  it 
the  goal  of  his  ambition  to  obtain  the  post  of  castellan, 
so  that  his  wife  might  enjoy  the  title  of  chatelaine.  And 
wondrous  indeed  were  his  advances  on  the  path  of  learn- 
ing. Perhaps,  too,  Valentine  might  have  proved  an  apter 
scholar  in  his  younger  days  if  grammar  and  syntax  had 
only  been  recited  to  him  by  such  sweet  lips,  and  if  the 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  223 

hie,  hac,  hoc  had  been  impressed  upon  him  with  sweet 
kisses  instead  of  w'xlh  ferula  and  signum.  Perhaps,  too, 
the  stronger  will  that  goes  hand  in  hand  with  mental 
maturity  helped  him  more  quickly  onward. 

After  some  months  he  had  got  on  so  well  that  he  could 
not  only  clearly  expound  the  Latin  and  German  letters 
which  the  count  laid  before  him,  but  could  even  reply  to 
them  ;  nay,  even  in  French  he  got  so  far  that  no  one 
could  have  cheated  him  in  a  bargain  conducted  in  that 
language. 

So  Milly  was  instructed  by  the  countess,  and  Valen- 
tine was  instructed  by  Milly,  and  all  three  took  delight 
in  the  progress  that  was  being  made. 

"  What  a  pity  it  is,"  said  the  countess  to  her  husband 
on  one  occasion,  "  that  such  a  clever,  highly  endowed 
young  woman,  who  has  such  a  fine  figure,  such  good 
features,  and  such  a  pleasant  manner,  should  be  disfigured 
by  so  many  hideous  freckles.  If  only  we  could  remedy 
this  evil  !  I  have  a  wash,  the  famous  Aqua  Regina, 
which  dates  from  the  days  of  Elizabeth,  the  mother  of 
our  king,  Louis  the  Great ;  my  face  is  quite  smooth  and 
soft  from  using  it — let  us  try  it  on  her,  perhaps  it  will  do 
something  to  remove  these  hideous  freckles." 

Milly  dared  not  assent  at  once,  but  said  she  must  first 
ask  her  husband  if  he  wished  her  face  to  be  free  from 
freckles,  as  it  was  with  her  freckled  face  that  he  had 
fallen  in  love  originally.  She  must  also  communicate  be- 
forehand with  her  mother-in-law,  as  that  lady  might  pos- 
sibly regard  her  daughter-in-law's  endeavor  to  beautify 
her  face  as  a  species  of  coquetry. 

But  both  Valentine  and  his  mother  acquiesced  in  the 
experiment.  They  said  that  a  medicament  which  the 
countess  used  herself  could  not  possibly  do  Milly  any 
harm. 

15 


2  24  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

The  disfiguring  freckles  which  had  been  produced  by 
the  juice  of  the  euphorbia  naturally  vanished  from 
Michal's  face  after  she  had  washed  herself  twice  or  thrice 
with  the  Aqua  Regina.  In  a  few  days  she  had  quite  a 
different  appearance.  She  got  a  white  and  red  complex- 
ion, and  a  skin  as  pure  as  dew.  The  countess  was  tri- 
umphant with  joy  that  her  wash  should  have  produced 
such  a  marvelous  effect,  and  Dame  Sarah  also  was  be- 
side herself  with  astonishment  when  she  saw  her  daughter- 
in-law  growing  daily  in  grace  and  beauty  ;  but  the  hap- 
piest of  all  was  Valentine,  as  he  gradually  won  back  his 
adored  Michal,  whom  he  regarded  as  the  fairest,  best, 
and  wisest  woman  in  the  whole  world. 

The  ladies  of  Kassa,  however,  were  by  no  means  dis- 
posed to  regard  this  wondrous  transformation  with  favor- 
able eyes.  At  that  time  (now,  of  course,  it  is  quite  dif- 
ferent) the  complexions  of  the  fair  Kassa  burgesses, 
owing  to  the  bad  spring  water,  the  close  air,  the  sour  wine, 
but  also  and  especially  to  the  plague  which  broke  out 
there  on  the  average  every  seven  years — the  complexions 
of  the  fair  Kassa  burgesses,  I  say,  was  then  of  that  pecu- 
lar  yellowish  tinge  which  in  the  faces  of  the  Venetian 
ladies  is  called  morbidezza,  but  which  in  Hungary  usually 
went  by  the  name  of  the  Kassa  color.  Lest,  however, 
we  should  be  saddled  with  the  charge  of  calumny,  we 
hasten,  in  our  justification,  to  cite  the  following  words 
from  one  of  the  original  sources  of  our  present  history  : 
"  The  people,  more  particularly  the  women  folk,  are  of 
a  pale  and  yellow  color,  which  in  Hungary  is  called  the 
Kassa  color."  i^Vide  Johan  Christopher  Wagner's 
*'  Town  and  History  Mirror,"  1687.) 

That,  however,  was  two  hundred  years  ago.  Nowa- 
days, the  complexion  of  the  ladies  of  Kassa,  like  the 
complexions  of  their  fair  sisters  elsewhere,  consists  of 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  225 

roses  and  lilies  ;  and  it  is  also  no  longer  true  what  the 
same  author  says  of  the  wine  of  Kassa,  to  wit,  that  it 
gives  foreigners  the  gout. 

Now  when  the  women  at  morning  service  in  church  on 
Christmas  Day  perceived  Milly  sitting  demurely  in  the 
countess's  pew,  they  were  scandalized  beyond  expression 
at  her  red  and  white  cheeks,  on  which  not  the  smallest 
freckle  was  to  be  seen. 

They  could  not  of  course  insult  her  to  her  face,  be- 
cause her  distinguished  patroness  was  present  ;  but 
they  put  their  heads  together  in  the  vestry,  and  quitted 
it  with  the  steadfast  determination  to  submit  the  case  to 
the  consideration  of  the  dean. 

Dame  Fiirmender  took  it  upon  herself  to  be  the  mouth- 
piece of  the  pious  sisterhood.  She  informed  the  dean 
that  a  young  woman  had  come  to  church  that  very 
morning  with  her  cheeks  painted  white  and  red,  which 
lewd  and  unchristian  conduct  had  sorely  troubled  the 
whole  of  the  pious  congregation. 

There  was  service  again  in  the  afternoon,  when  the 
very  reverend  gentleman  was  wont  to  catechize.  For  in 
those  days  it  was  the  custom  for  young  persons,  both 
bachelors  and  spinsters,  and  especially  young  married 
people  from  foreign  parts,  to  be  called  forth  into  the 
midst  of  the  congregation  and  be  catechized  by  the  very 
reverend  gentleman  in  front  of  the  Lord's  Table  ;  so 
that  it  might  be  made  manifest  whether  they  were  well 
grounded  in  the  principles  of  the  creed  and  the  con- 
fession, and  also  that  they  might  confess  publicly, 
before  the  whole  church,  that  they  belonged  to  the 
true  evangelical  Christian  faith  ;  lest  at  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  Lord's  Supper,  on  the  following  day,  the 
bread  and  wine  might  be  given  to  such  as  did  not  even 
know  why  the  sacred   elements  were  so  given,  or  lest 


2  26  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

those  should  communicate  who  were  morally  unworthy 
so  to  do. 

The  first  person  whom  the  very  reverend  gentleman 
called  up  that  afternoon  was  the  young  wife  of  Valentine 
Kalondai. 

Milly  rose  from  her  place  and  stepped  modestly  but 
fearlessly  forward.  She  felt  quite  secure,  for  she  knew 
her  whole  catechism  by  heart.  It  came  as  easy  to  her  as 
the  Paternoster. 

But  great  was  her  astonishment  when  the  very  reverend 
gentleman,  instead  of  questioning  her  on  the  mystery  of 
the  Trinity  or  as  to  the  necessity  of  communicating  in 
both  kinds,  roughly  addressed  her  as  follows  : 

"  Dost  thou  know,  pious  Christian  lady  !  the  com- 
mandment of  God  which  forbids  all  the  faithful 
daughters  of  his  Church  to  make  of  the  face  which  he 
of  his  grace  has  given  to  each  one  of  them,  another 
face  after  the  manner  of  the  heathen,  by  anointing  it 
with  all  kinds  of  false  and  meretricious  salves  as  'the 
daughters  of  Midian  were  wont  to  do  ? " 

Milly  answered  with  a  perfectly  clear  conscience  : 

"I  know  it." 

**  Then,  if  thou  knowest  it,  wherefore  doest  thou  the 
contrary  ? " 

"  My  countenance  is  just  as  God  has  made  it,"  replied 
Milly,  with  a  tranquil  heart. 

"  If  what  thou  hast  said  be  true,  come  wash  thyself 
herein  ! " 

The  very  reverend  gentleman  beckoned,  and  the 
sacristan  placed  on  the  marble  font  a  large  silver  basin 
full  of  crystal  clear  water. 

Milly  most  willingly  washed  her  face  in  the  basin,  and 
after  she  had  done  so,  the  water  was  as  pure  as  it  had 
been  before. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  2«7 

"  And  now  wipe  thy  face  with  this  !  " 

With  that  he  handed  the  young  woman  a  towel,  with 
which  she  rubbed  her  face  all  over  with  all  her  might, 
yet  not  the  smallest  trace  of  anything  red  or  white  was 
to  be  seen  upon  the  snowy  napkin,  while  her  face  had 
only  become  rosier  than  ever  from  the  scrubbing. 

The  dean  was  astonished. 

"  How  comes  it,"  cried  he,  "  that  thy  face,  which  was 
once  so  full  of  freckles,  is  now  without  a  single  speck 
upon  it  ? " 

"  Freckles  always  disappear  in  winter,"  answered 
Milly. 

And  that  was  no  more  than  the  truth.  From  many 
faces  freckles  disappear  in  winter,  and  it  was  just  then 
the  very  depth  of  winter. 

At  this,  the  very  reverend  gentleman  grew  very  wroth. 
He  struck  the  table  violently  with  his  book,  and  stretch- 
ing forth  his  hand,  exclaimed  : 

"  Then  thou  hast  been  foully  calumniated  by  thine 
accuser,  Dame  Fiirmender,  the  wife  of  Augustus  Zwirina, 
who,  by  way  of  punishment  for  such  a  calumny,  is  ex- 
cluded from  to-morrow's  communion." 

Dame  Fiirmender,  who  was  sitting  in  the  corner  of 
the  front  pew,  where  everyone  could  see  it,  got  up, 
courtesied,  and  went  straight  out  of  the  church. 

But  the  dean  kept  Michal  back  in  order  to  catechize 
her,  and  began  to  put  various  questions  to  her,  which 
she  answered  so  promptly  and  so  correctly  that  he  was 
perfectly  delighted.  He  absolutely  could  not  leave  off 
catechizing  her. 

He  went  out  of  his  way  to  find  harder  and  ever  harder 
questions,  to  every  one  of  which  the  lady  nevertheless 
found  an  appropriate  answer,  so  that  at  last  the  audience 
began  to  whisper  to  each  other  that  the  maids  of  Bdrtfa 


228  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

must  be  as  learned  as  chaplains.  Finally  the  dean  sent 
her  back  to  her  place  with  a  warm  eulogy  and  his  bene- 
diction. 

Thus  the  day  on  which  Michal  was  to  have  been  put 
to  shame  ended  with  her  exaltation  and  the  utter  discom- 
fiture of  her  calumniators.  Dame  Sarah  was  naturally 
triumphant,  but  she  was  not  more  delighted  than  the 
good  Countess  Hommonai,  who  justly  imagined  that 
Michal  had  her  to  thank  for  all  her  knowledge. 

And  the  countess  was  quite  right  in  thinking  so,  for 
though  it  is  true  that  Milly  had  originally  received  her 
beauty  and  her  wisdom  from  God,  nevertheless,  both  her 
bodily  and  her  spiritual  excellences  had  been  so  com- 
pletely killed  and  buried  by  the  contrarieties  of  fate  that 
their  resurrection  might  well  be  regarded  as  the  work  of 
the  countess. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

Concerning  a  terribly  great  contest,  from  which  it  will  be  seen  that 
where  his  spouse's  honor  was  concerned,  Valentine  put  no 
bounds  to  his  fury. 

But  all  this  was  not  enough  for  Valentine.  Hence- 
forward he  went  about  like  a  raging  lion,  and  whenever 
he  talked  with  anyone  in  the  street,  his  gestures  were 
those  of  a  man  who  is  about  to  pull  up  his  shirt  sleeves 
for  a  fight. 

At  last  he  fell  in  with  Simplex. 

"  I  must  trounce  someone  to-day,  or  else  I  shall  cer- 
tainly get  the  fever  or  the  jaundice.  Friend  Simplex,  if 
ever  you  were  my  good  comrade,  if  the  health  of  your 
friend  is  at  all  dear  to  you,  find  me  someone  on  whom  I 
can  vent  my  wrath." 

"  Most  willingly,  my  dear  good  comrade,  I'll  find  you 
someone." 

"Anyone  will  do.  I  don't  care  who  it  is,  a  sword- 
eater,  a  stone-breaker,  a  giant !  I'll  fight  him.  A  woman 
has  insulted  me,  but  I  cannot  take  revenge  upon  a  woman. 
Procure  me,  from  somewhere  or  other,  a  man  whom  I 
can  trample  underfoot.  Bring  me  a  Turkish  pasha, 
or  a  robber  chieftain,  or  a  dog-headed  Tartar,  that  I  may 
devour  him." 

"  I  need  not  look  so  far  as  that.  I'll  find  you  an 
antagonist  much  nearer  home.  If  you  want  such  a  one, 
know  that  you  have  no  greater  enemy  than  young 
Ignatius   Fiirmender,  or   Zwirina.     You   have   been  in- 


230  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

suited  by  his  mother ;  the  son  must  now  pay  for  the  moth- 
er's rudeness." 

"  You've  hit  it,"  cried  Valentine,  giving  Simplex  a 
mighty  blow  on  the  back  from  sheer  friendship.  **  Not 
in  vain  do  they  call  you  knowing.  He  never  once  oc- 
curred to  me.  To  think  that  I  should  be  looking  every- 
where for  a  foe,  when  he  is  under  my  nose  all  the  time. 
It  is  just  like  the  man  who  went  in  search  of  the  horse 
on  which  he  was  actually  riding.  Here !  take  my 
glove  and  this  gulden,  and  notify  to  the  sheriff  that  I 
challenge  Ignatius  Zwirina  to  break  a  lance  with  me." 

Simplex  accepted  the  commission,  went  straight  to 
the  sheriff,  and  informed  him  that  Valentine  Kolondai 
desired  to  challenge  Ignatius  Zwirina  to  fight  him  with 
lances,  according  to  ancient  law  and  custom.  The  sheriff 
made  a  note  thereof,  and  took  the  deposited  gulden,  at 
the  same  time  calling  Simplex's  attention  to  the  fact  that 
as  the  city  found  the  lances,  each  of  the  combatants 
would  have  to  pay  a  Hungarian  gulden  extra  for  every 
lance  that  broke  in  his  hand.  Thereupon  he  handed 
him  a  written  permission,  duly  sealed  with  the  seal  of 
the  city  of  Kassa,  for  Valentine  Kalondai  to  challenge 
Ignatius  Zwirina  to  fight  him  with  lances,  according 
to  ancient  law  and  custom,  as  prescribed  by  the  statutes 
of  the  city  of  Kassa. 

Thus  provided  with  the  official  authorization,  Simplex, 
accompanied  by  the  town  trumpeter,  next  proceeded  to 
the  house  of  the  Zwirina  family,  and  finding  the  door 
closed,  bade  the  trumpeter  blow  a  flourish  three  times, 
and  then  proclaimed  the  challenge  before  the  crowd, 
which  had  in  the  meantime  assembled  in  the  streets  : 

**  Ignatius  Zwirina  !  With  the  permission  and  consent 
of  the  sheriff  of  Kassa,  I  hereby  challenge  you  in  the 
name  of  the  good  and   valiant  Valentine  Kalondai,  to 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  231 

break  with  him,  according  to  ancient  law  and  custom, 
one,  two,  or  three  lances,  as  the  case  may  be.  Take  this 
glove,  and  on  the  first  day  of  carnival  appear  on  the 
ropewalk  behind  the  townhall,  duly  armed  and  mounted, 
to  answer  the  challenge  in  your  own  person,  if  you  would 
be  regarded  as  a  stout-hearted  fellow  and  not  as  an  er- 
rand-boy  of  your  lady-mother." 

Then  the  trumpeter  sounded  three  more  flourishes,  and 
Simplex  nailed  Valentine's  glove  to  the  Zwirinas'  door. 

There  the  glove  remained  till  Twelfthnight.  Nobody 
took  it  down.  For  according  to  the  statute  all  such  duels 
had  to  be  fought  out  between  Twelfthnight  and  Shrove- 
tide, whereby  all  and  sundry  were  given  to  understand 
that  the  town  council  regarded  such  combats  as  mere 
carnival  frolics.  This  wise  ordinance  assumed  that  the 
hot-blooded  youth  of  the  parish  had  their  fling  during 
Shrovetide.  If  anyone  felt  as  if  he  did  not  know  what 
to  do  with  himself,  it  was  open  to  him  to  fight  to  his 
heart's  content  during  the  prescribed  season  and  have 
done  with  it,  for,  Shrovetide  over,  it  was  strictly  forbidden 
to  break  the  peace,  or  in  any  way  disturb  or  harass  one's 
neighbors.  It  was  also  generally  found  that  after  all 
such  combats  the  young  fellows,  even  when  they  had  bela- 
bored each  other  most  soundly,  became  the  best  friends 
in  the  world,  and  it  was  considered  the  most  shameful 
cowardice  to  bewail  the  bumps  and  bruises  dealt  out  on 
such  occasions,  be  they  what  they  might. 

It  was  also  considered  equally  disgraceful  when  the 
person  so  challenged  did  not  appear  on  the  field  of  battle 
at  the  appointed  day  and  hour.  Now  this  was  the  case 
with  Ignatius  Zwirina,  who  had  no  very  fervent  desire  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  Valentine  Kalondai's  cudgel. 

Epiphany  arrived,  and  the  whole  youth  of  the  parish, 
as  well  as  the  officials  appointed  to  watch  the  proceed- 


232  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

ings  and  keep  order,  waited  in  vain  from  dawn  till  eve 
for  the  appearance  of  the  challenged.  The  challenger 
rode  idle  and  alone  up  and  down  the  ropewalk. 

When  evening  came,  and  it  was  no  longer  to  be  expected 
that  the  defaulter  would  either  appear  in  person  or  send 
people  to  excuse  his  absence,  Valentine  was  authorized 
to  take  his  lance  in  his  hand,  having  at  the  end  of  it  a 
lantern  made  of  a  bladder  with  a  lighted  candle  inside  it, 
and  a  pair  of  ragged  old  drawers  hanging  over  it,  and 
then  to  ride  through  the  town  and  proclaim  at  the  cor- 
ner of  every  street  : 

"  Noble  gentlemen,  burgesses,  and  honest  inhabitants 
of  this  town  !  which  of  you  has  seen,  which  of  you  knows 
that  cowardly  knave  Ignatius  Zwirina  ?  Who  can  tell  me 
into  which  hole  he  has  crawled  ?  Is  he  in  the  oven,  under 
the  bed,  or  beneath  his  mother's  skirts?  Whoever  finds 
him,  tell  him  not  to  be  afraid  but  show  himself,  for  I 
won't  eat  him.  Here  I  have  a  pair  of  ragged  hose. 
Let  him  come  out  and  patch  them  for  me,  and  I'll  pay 
him  for  the  job." 

This  was  the  formula  of  degradation  which  was  the 
meed  of  those  who  failed  to  appear  on  such  occasions. 

Moreover,  the  whole  youth  of  the  town  used  to  take 
up  the  heckling  with  such  spirit  that  further  existence  in 
the  town  of  Kassa  became  an  absolute  impossibility  for 
the  person  so  distinguished.  Ignatius  Zwirina,  however, 
was  already  deputy  syndic  of  his  native  place.  He  there- 
fore could  not  atford  to  fly,  and  his  good  friends  persuaded 
him  so  long  that  at  last  he  resolved  to  answer  Valentine's 
challenge,  and  break  a  pair  of  lances  with  him  on  the 
following  day.  Then,  of  course,  the  public  mockery 
ceased. 

On  the  following  day  a  still  greater  crowd  of  spectators 
appeared  on  the  ropewalk,  fifty  drabants  had  also  been 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  233 

sent  by  the  corporation  to  keep  order,  and  Count  Hom- 
monai  had  come  on  horseback  to  see  the  fight. 

At  the  appointed  hour  both  horsemen  appeared,  ac- 
companied by  their'  friends.  Valentine  wore  a  breast- 
plate, a  helmet,  and  greaves,  but  Ignatius  was  clad  in 
mail  from  top  to  toe,  both  in  front  and  behind  ;  he  was 
plainly  of  opinion  that  the  back  is  also  vulnerable. 

They  took  the  places  assigned  to  them  on  the  opposite 
sides  of  the  lists,  and  the  umpire  then  produced  two  long 
wooden  lances  without  iron  points,  and  two  stout  oaken 
cudgels  exactly  alike.  The  challenged  had  the  first 
choice  of  weapons,  and  what  he  left  were  handed  to  the 
challenger. 

They  rode  bareback,  guiding  their  horses  by  their 
knees,  to  which  their  reins  were  fastened,  for  in  their 
right  hands  they  held  their  lances  and  in  their  left  their 
cudgels. 

The  moment  the  trumpet  sounded,  both  horsemen 
couched  their  lances  and  rushed  upon  each  other  with  a 
fearful  crash. 

Ignatius  Zvvirina  was  a  big  lout  of  a  fellow.  Placed 
on  the  scales  he  would  certainly  have  weighed  much  more 
than  Valentine.  He  aimed  viciously  at  Valentine  with 
his  lance  ;  but  Valentine  struck  the  shaft  of  it  so  sharply 
with  his  cudgel  that  it  broke  off  in  the  middle,  and  at  the 
same  time  with  his  own  lance  he  struck  his  antagonist 
full  in  the  breast,  so  that  Ignatius  flew  backward  into 
the  air  off  his  steed  and  fell  flat  on  the  ground. 

Valentine  immediately  sprang  from  his  horse  and 
punched  and  pommeled  the  back  and  shoulders  of  the 
prostrate  champion,  as  prescribed  by  the  rules  of  the 
contest,  till  his  cudgel  broke  ;  but  all  this  belaboring  did 
very  little  damage  to  the  defeated  combatant,  for,  besides 
the  coat  of    mail  he  wore  behind,  his  mother  had  well 


e34  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

Stuffed  his  clothes  with  horsehair.  Yet,  for  all  that,  he 
did  get  one  or  two  knocks  which  he  did  not  forget  in  a 
hurry,  and  that  was  no  more  than  his  due,  for  he  had 
often  vexed  Valentine  with  his  evil  tongue. 

And  there  the  matter  would  have  ended  had  not  old 
Furmender  thought  fit  to  reopen  it  all  again. 

For  when,  after  the  contest  was  over,  the  defeated 
youth  was  carried  home  in  a  basket,  according  to  ancient 
practice,  the  old  man  took  it  so  to  heart  that  he  imme 
diately  buckled  on  his  saber,  took  down  the  statutes,  ran 
with  them  to  the  captain,  and  called  his  attention  to  the 
paragraph  which  strictly  forbade  persons  serving  in  the 
army  to  challenge  young  civilians.  He  therefore  de- 
manded that  Valentine  should  be  punished  for  his 
challenge   as   being   a   gross  breach   of   the  law. 

But  the  good  captain  diligently  searched  through  his 
diary  and  showed  the  conscientious  complainant  that 
Valentine  Kalondai  on  such  and  such  a  day,  viz.,  on  the 
Wednesday  before  the  last  Sunday  in  Advent  of  the  past 
year,  had  been  relieved  of  his  military  duties,  and  there- 
fore no  longer  fell  within  the  category  incriminated  by 
the  statute.  All  that  could  be  done  therefore,  suggested 
the  captain,  was  for  old  Mr.  Furmender  to  well  rub  the 
blue  and  red  bruises  of  his  Nassy  with  butter,  which  he 
would  find  a  sovereign  specific. 

And  that  not  a  shadow  of  a  doubt  as  to  Valentine's 
true  position  might  remain,  the  count  that  very  day 
publicly  advertised  Valentine  Kalondai's  appointment  as 
castellan.  Now,  no  doubt  this  post  is  essentially  a  civic 
office,  but  inasmuch  as  the  castellan  is  practically  the 
commandant's  lieutenant,  it  had  for  a  long  time  always 
been  given  to  a  soldier,  especially  since  the  days  when 
one  of  the  civic  magistrates  had  been  discovered  in 
collusion  with  the  castellan  to  betray  the  town  into  the 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  235 

enemy's  hands.  In  memory  of  this  event,  the  Hamor 
gate,  through  which  the  enemy  had  been  admitted,  was 
walled  up  in  perpetuity. 

Thus  Kalondai's  enemies  were  completely  put  to 
shame,  and  Dame  Sarah  experienced  the  joy  of  seeing  her 
son's  wife,  the  damsel  from  Bartfa,  sitting  in  the  first 
place  of  the  front  pew  of  the  cathedral  ;  which  pew  Dame 
Fiirmender  Zwirina  had  refused  to  occupy  any  longer, 
having  given  notice  to  the  dean  that  she  would  hence- 
forth take  sittings  in  the  suburb  church  instead. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Which   teaches   that   outward    beauty,    be    it    never   so   precious  a 
property,  is  often  most  dangerous  to  its  possessor. 

From  this  time  forth,  Valentine,  by  virtue  of  his  new 
office,  daily  visited  the  commandant's  house,  where  he 
was  always  a  welcome  guest.  In  the  townhall  also,  he 
was  held  in  high  honor. 

The  land,  just  then,  was  in  very  difficult  circum- 
stances. A  town  like  Kassa,  shut  in  between  three  dis- 
tinct masters  and  anxious  to  please  all  three,  without 
giving  such  a  preference  to  any  one  of  them  as  might 
offend  the  other  two,  had  a  very  hard  time  of  it.  By 
virtue  of  the  pacification  putting  an  end  to  the  late  re- 
ligious wars,  Kassa  fell  within  the  jurisdiction  of  George 
Rakoczy,  Prince  of  Transylvania,  whose  Suzerain  was 
the  Turkish  Sultan.  But  the  pashas  of  Eger  and  Gross- 
wardein  often  took  it  into  their  heads  to  make  predatory 
raids  on  their  own  account  as  far  as  Kassa  and  Tokay, 
and  then  the  good  people  of  Kassa  could  not  wait,  as  it 
is  the  fashion  nowadays,  till  the  English  had  held  indig- 
nation meetings  to  protest  against  the  Turkish  atroci- 
ties ;  but  they  forthwith  mounted  their  steeds,  seized 
their  weapons,  and  smote  the  troops  of  their  own 
Prince's  Suzerain  ;  and  this  they  often  did,  moreover,  in 
concert  with  their  adversaries  the  Hungarians  of  that 
portion  of  the  kingdom  of  Hungary  which  belonged  to 
the  Kaiser.  In  those  days,  therefore,  it  required  no 
small  discrimination  to  judge  accurately  which  of  the 
many  strangers  passing  to  and  fro  were  to  be  reckoned 

■^6 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  237 

with  as  friends,  and  which  as  foes  ;  which  could  be  put 
off  with  promises,  and  which  had  really  to  be  sent  away 
with  presents ;  which  might  merely  be  threatened  with 
stripes,  and  which  ought  really  to  get  them. 

Now  at  this  very  time,  there  came  from  that  part  of 
the  land  which  both  Hungary  and  Transylvania  claimed 
as  their  own,  a  person  of  great  distinction,  Belisarius 
Zurdoki  by  name.  One  of  his  ancestors  had  returned 
to  Hungary  from  Wallachia  with  great  treasures,  and 
this  his  descendant  had  also  the  reputation  of  being  a 
very  rich  man. 

Zurdoki  made  a  great  display  at  Kassa.  He  said  he 
had  come  to  visit  Count  Hommonai,  with  whom  he  was 
distantly  connected  on  his  mother's  side.  He  brought 
quite  a  court  with  him,  equerries,  pages,  a  secretary,  a 
chaplain,  a  huntsman,  a  master  of  the  hounds,  a  jester, 
gypsy  musicians,  a  falconer,  heydukes,  couriers,  domes- 
tics, lackeys,  coachmen — in  fact,  there  was  no  counting 
the  multitude  he  brought  in  his  train.  He  took  up  so 
much  space  in  Count  Hommonai's  castle  that  there  was 
no  room  left  for  its  lawful  owners. 

And  all  the  time  he  resided  at  Kassa,  he  did  nothing 
but  give  splendid  entertainments.  There  was  absolutely 
no  end  to  them. 

Belisarius  Zurdoki  was  already  over  sixty,  but  though 
his  age  was  venerable,  he  had  no  very  extraordinary 
reputation  for  morality.  He  had  had  so  many  wives,  mor- 
ganatic and  otherwise,  to  say  nothing  of  those  from 
whom  he  had  been  separated,  that  he  himself  no  longer 
recollected  their  proper  sequence.  He  had  little  respect 
for  the  sex,  and  held  that  there  was  not  a  woman  in  the 
world  who  could  not  be  bought  with  gifts,  only  some 
were  more  highly  priced  than  others. 

He  himself,  however,  had  not  been  in  the  way  when 


238  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

beauty  was  being  served  out.  He  had  a  broad,  satyr 
face,  with  a  red  nose  sinking  right  down  upon  his  mus- 
tache ;  his  head,  after  the  prevaiUng  Turkish  fashion,  was 
clean  shaved,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  gray  lock 
over  his  brows  which  bobbed  up  and  down  whenever  he 
wagged  his  head.  His  mustache  hung  down  limp  on 
both  sides  in  the  Turkish  style,  and  his  stomach  was  not 
unlike  a  large  beer  barrel. 

And  yet  he  tried  to  make  the  world  believe  that  he 
was  such  an  amiable  man  that  the  woman  was  yet  to  be 
born  who  could  resist  him,  be  she  never  so  young,  beau- 
tiful, and  accomplished. 

That  he  was  also  smelling  and  purring  around  the 
Countess  Isabella  Hommonai  was  patent  to  everyone, 
but  the  count  would  not  for  the  world  have  taken  any 
notice  of  it.  Yet  he  heartily  laughed  over  it  all  in 
secret  with  the  countess,  who  made  sport  of  the  old 
rake,  and  told  her  husband  everything  he  said. 

One  day  Zurdoki  gave  a  great  banquet  at  the  castle, 
on  which  occasion  he  brought  out  all  his  silver  plate  to 
make  a  goodly  show,  and  invited  the  whole  of  the  civic 
notabilities.  Pretty  Michal  was  there  too,  the  prettiest 
of  the  whole  company,  and  as  she  was  dressed  very 
simply  her  beauty  was,  of  course,  all  the  more  striking. 
She  was  even  lovelier  than  the  countess  herself.  Her 
natural  refinement  and  smiling  coyness  could  not  be 
imitated  by  those  who  did  not  possess  those  graces. 
With  proud  humility,  she  wore  over  her  wondrously 
beautiful  tresses  the  matron's  coif,  which  showed  that 
all  this  loveliness  already  had  a  master. 

How  the  old  voluptuary  feasted  his  eyes  upon  this 
beautiful  apparition  !  He  was  all  fire  and  flame  instantly, 
like  an  old   worm-eaten   tree  stump,   which  blazes  up 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  2^9 

whenever  the  young  herdsmen  smoke  the  wasps  out  of 
its  hollow  trunk. 

He  had  no  longer  a  single  look  for  the  countess,  but 
followed  close  upon  the  heels  of  the  beautiful  chatelaine, 
though  Valentine  occasionally,  as  if  by  accident,  gave 
him  a  violent  nudge  in  the  ribs  with  his  elbow,  or  trod 
sharply  on  his  foot  with  his  spurred  boots. 

At  table,  the  enamored  Zurdoki  distinguished  pretty 
Michal  so  very  markedly  that  all  the  women  present 
whispered  spiteful  things  to  each  other  about  it.  The 
countess  was  naturally  an  exception.  She  only  laughed 
at  the  coxcombry  of  the  old  inamorato,  and  was  quite 
persuaded  beforehand  that  such  a  sage  damsel  as  pretty 
Michal  would  be  more  than  a  match  for  him. 

After  dinner,  the  martial  and  amatory  airs  which  had 
been  played  during  the  banquet  were  succeeded  by 
dance  music,  and  the  guests  flocked  into  the  dancing- 
room. 

The  Hungarian  dances  of  those  days  were  very 
different  from  the  dances  we  dance  now.  What  are  now- 
called  csardaszes  and  friszes  were  then  only  danced  at 
rustic  weddings.  At  polite  entertainments,  the  dance 
consisted  of  slow  and  stately  figures,  accompanied  by 
the  clash  of  colliding  spurs,  of  rhythmical  involutions, 
and  evolutions,  with  much  extending  of  hands  and  kneel- 
ing on  cushions,  or,  at  most,  of  a  defiant  manly  stamping 
with  the  feet  and  majestic  movements  of  the  body  ;  not 
like  our  present  system  of  dancing,  when  everyone 
seems  bent  on  jostling  his  neighbor  into  a  corner,  and 
makes  a  whirligig  of  his  partner.  The  earlier  dances 
did  very  well  for  a  time,  whose  motto  was,  Festina  lente  ! 

The  ball  began  with  the  minuet-like  dance  known  as 
the  palotas.     It  was  Zurdoki's  duty  as  host  to  open  the 

16 


240  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

ball,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  doing  so.  With  grandoise 
aplomb,  he  sauntered  up  to  the  fairest  of  the  fair,  and 
held  toward  her  a  silken  handkerchief  as  a  sign  that  he 
had  chosen  her  for  his  partner.  This  was,  indeed,  a 
notable  distinction  for  Michal,  especially  as  the  countess 
was  also  present  in  the  saloon. 

But  pretty  Michel  did  not  accept  the  extended  hand- 
kerchief, the  other  corner  of  which  she  ought  to  have 
held  so  as  to  begin  the  palotas,  but  bowed  modestly,  and 
said  so  that  everyone  could  hear  it  :  "  Your  pardon, 
gracious  sir  !  but  I've  only  been  a  poor  serving  maid  and 
have  never  learnt  dancing  !  " 

And  this  was  no  more  than  the  simple  truth,  for  she 
certainly  had  been  a  serving  maid  and  never  learnt 
dancing. 

At  this  unexpected  rebuff,  Zurdoki  became  as  red  as 
a  turkey  cock,  and  in  his  fury  sought  out  the  most  hide- 
ous woman  in  the  room.  This  was  old  Dame  Fiirmen- 
der,  and  with  her  he  opened  the  ball. 

And  during  the  whole  of  the  dance  he  was  cudgeling 
his  brains  as  to  the  meaning  of  pretty  Michal's  words. 
"  She  had  not  learnt  to  dance  because  she  was  only  a 
serving  maid  !  Now  serving  maids  can  dance,  and 
dance  very  well  too  !  Yet  surely  she  must  have  spoken 
the  truth,  for  otherwise  she  would  never  have  dared  to 
publicly  put  to  shame  her  host  when  he  invited  her  to 
dance.  Who  are  the  women  who  really  do  not  dance  ? 
Why,  who  but  the  daughters  of  Protestant  pastors?  " 

Thus  pretty  Michal,  when  she  said  she  could  not 
dance,  had  already  betrayed  a  part  of  her  secret.  When 
once  an  old  bloodhound  has  got  a  scent,  he  will  surely 
run  down  his  prey  ! 

As  already  mentioned,  in  consequence  of  an  unfortu- 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  241 

nate  episode  in  the  history  of  the  city  of  Kassa,  when  a 
sheriff  had  attempted  to  betray  the  city  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy,  extra  precautions  had  been  taken  to  prevent 
similar  conspiracies  in  the  future.  One  of  these  pre- 
cautions was  that  all  letters  brought  by  couriers  from 
abroad,  to  whomsoever  they  might  be  directed,  should 
be  first  opened  by  the  magistrates,  and  only  then  handed 
over  to  their  respective  owners.  And  to  take  away  all 
appearance  of  espionage  from  this  precautionary  meas- 
ure, such  letters  were  opened  under  the  pretext  of  fumi- 
gating them  to  avoid  the  infection  of  the  plague.  And 
fumigated  they  certainly  were,  but  the  castellan  used 
first  to  copy  them  and  communicate  their  contents  to  the 
commandant,  who  could  thus  keep  a  watch  upon  the 
citizens,  and  prevent  them  from  plotting  behind  his 
back. 

Zurdoki,  too,  during  his  residence  at  Kassa,  received 
a  foreign  letter  which  was  delivered  to  him  open  and 
fumigated. 

"  You  may  try  and  spell  out  this  letter  as  much  as  you 
like,"  laughed  the  great  man.  "  I  warrant  you  won't  be 
able  to  make  much  of  it  !  " 

And,  indeed,  it  was  a  very  curious  epistle.  In  the  first 
place  the  letters  were  all  so  much  mixed  up  together  that 
you  could  see  at  a  glance  that  it  was  cipher  writing. 

Valentine  recollected  that  the  learned  Professor  David 
Frolich  possessed,  among  other  sciences,  the  key  of 
cipher  writing.  Perhaps  he  had  communicated  this  also 
to  his  daughter. 

So  he  showed  the  letter  to  Michal. 

Michal  had  indeed  been  initiated  into  the  mystery  of 
such  writings,  ana  as  at  that  time  there  were  very  few 
variations  in  cipher  writing,  a  person  who  held  the  key 
of  one  of  them  might  very  easily  decipher  all  the  others  ; 


242  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

and  in  fact,  Valentine  succeeded,  with  the  aid  of  the  key 
supplied  to  him  by  Michal,  in  deciphering  the  whole  let- 
ter. 

But  now  a  second  difficulty  arose.  This  letter  was 
written  in  a  language  which  he  had  never  seen  before. 
It  was  like  German,  and  yet  it  was  not  German.  He  had 
again  to  apply  to  Michal,  and  asked  her  if  she  understood 
this  strange  tongue. 

"Yes  !  it  is  Swedish." 

"  What  !  you  know  Swedish  too  ? " 

"  My  father  taught  it  me.  He  corresponded  a  good 
deal  with  the  king  of  Sweden,  who  supported  our 
schools." 

"  Then  translate  me  this  letter." 

Michal  did  as  she  was  told,  and  Valentine  then  hastened 
with  the  solved  enigma  to  the  commandant,  Count  Horn- 

monai. 

The  letter  contained  very  remarkable  things.  Count 
Hommonai  had  no  sooner  taken  note  of  its  contents  than 
he  sent  for  Zurdoki. 

"  Sir  !  "  he  at  once  began,  without  so  much  as  asking 
Zurdoki  to  take  a  seat,  "  you  are  here  with  no  good  in- 
tention." 

"  How  ? "  replied  Zurdoki,  attempting  to  give  a  jocose 
turn  to  the  matter.  "  Do  you  mean  that  I  am  perhaps  a 
little  too  attentive  to  some  of  your  pretty  little  ladies 

here  ? " 

"  It  is  not  a  question  of  women,  now,  cousin  !  I  allude 
to  your  correspondence  with  the  Swedish  Minister." 

"  Well  !  let  us  hear  what  you  make  of  it." 

*'  I  can  tell  you  if  you  choose  to  listen.  Your  master  is 
George  Rakoczy,  prince  of  Transylvania." 

"  He  is  your  master,  also,"  retorted  Zurdoki. 

•*  Yes,  to-day,  perhaps,  but  he  may  not  be  so  to-morrow. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  243 

George  Rakoczy,  not  content  with  the  good  fortune  of 
being  lord  of  Transylvania  and  of  fifteen  adjacent  Hun- 
garian counties,  strives  after  higher  fame.  Although  on 
his  accession  he  swore  to  the  Estates  never  to  commence 
a  war  without  their  consent,  he  has  nevertheless  interfered 
in  the  present  dispute  between  Sweden  and  Poland,  first 
offering  to  assist  Poland  against  Sweden  in  consideration 
of  receiving  the  thirteen  towns  of  Zips  ;  and  now,  when 
the  Swedes  have  entangled  him  in  their  net,  he  turns 
round  and  negotiates  with  them  through  you,  demanding 
no  less  a  reward  for  his  services  than  the  whole  kingdom 
of  Poland  ;  and  in  order  to  gain  the  consent  of  the  Ger- 
man Emperor  thereto,  he  now  offers  him  the  five  Hun- 
garian counties  on  the  other  side  of  the  Theiss." 

"  I  deny  the  truth  of  that,"  blustered  Zurdoki.  "  All 
that  is  mere  sophistical  gabble." 

"  Here  you  have  the  contents  of  the  letter  which  the 
Swedish  Minister  writes  to  you.  Read  it !  "  said  Hom- 
monai,  handing  him  the  copied  letter. 

Zurdoki  was  dumfounded. 

"  Whence  did  you  get  this  ?  Who  is  there  in  Kassa 
that  can  read  cipher  ?  Who  understands  Swedish  here,  I 
should  like  to  know?" 

"  Why,  my  castellan,  of  course." 

"  What  !  that  butcher  boy  1  that  expelled  student  ?  " 

But  for  all  that  he  could  no  longer  deny  the  contents 
of  the  letter. 

And  now  Count  Hommonai  spoke  very  sharply  to  Mr. 
"Zurdoki.  He  told  him  it  would  be  a  piece  of  folly  on  the 
part  of  the  Prince  of  Transylvania  to  attack  Poland  with 
the  Cossacks,  on  whose  friendship  no  one  could  depend, 
whereas  the  Poles  had  always  been  good  neighbors. 
Transylvania  and  Hungary  had  quite  enough  to  do  at 
home.     They  should  sweep  the  dust  off  their  own  thresh- 


244  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

olds,  and  not  meddle  with  the  affairs  of  other  lands. 
We  should  only  be  too  glad  to  be  able  to  defend  ourselves 
against  the  foes  we,  actually  have,  and  not  try  and  sad- 
dle ourselves  with  fresh  ones.  Besides,  an  enterprise  so 
foolishly  begun  could  not  possibly  have  any  good  issue. 
The  German  Emperor  would  not  approve  of  it  because 
the  Pole  was  his  ally.  The  Sultan,  too,  would  refuse  his 
consent,  and  the  end  of  it  would  be  that  George  Rakoczy 
would  lose  the  five  counties  without  receiving  anything 
in  return.  Nay,  he  might  at  last  even  lose  his  Transyl- 
vanian  throne  also. 

Like  every  ill-bred  fellow  when  he  is  driven  into  a  cor- 
ner, Zurdoki  now  took  refuge  in  low  abuse.  He  insisted 
that  he  was  right.  He  raised  his  voice.  He  asked  how 
they  dared  to  break  open  his  private  letters,  and  what 
business  the  Commandant  of  Kassa  had  to  criticise  the 
plans  of  the  Prince  of  Transylvania.  Let  the  comman- 
dant look  to  his  patrolling  and  leave  politics  to  his  su- 
periors. 

"  And  I  mean  to  show  you,"  retorted  Hommonai,  "  that 
the  city  of  Kassa  also  has  to  do  with  politics.  If  George 
Rakoczy  thinks  fit  to  exchange  Hungarian  counties  for 
a  kingdom,  the  city  of  Kassa  will  also  think  fit  to  shut  its 
gates  against  all  suspected  persons  who  cannot  give  a 
good  account  of  themselves.  As  for  you,  sir,  you  are  my 
kinsman,  and  I  have  hitherto  willingly  seen  you  in  my 
house.  But  I  now  beg  to  inform  you  that  your  carriage 
is  waiting,  and  nothing  prevents  you  from  taking  youi 
departure  immediately." 

That  was  indeed  a  snub  !  What !  to  refuse  hospitality 
to  a  guest!  Zurdoki  could  not  swallow  that  calmly.  He 
stuck  out  his  chest  and  said  haughtily  to  Hommonai : 

"  Look  ye,  my  lord  Count !  You  know  as  well  as  I  do 
the  real  reason  why  you  drive  me  out  of  your  house.     It 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  245 

is  because  you  fear  I  might  be  dangerous  to  your  dear 
wife !  " 

Hommonai  was  a  finished  gentleman.  Even  in  his  in- 
sults he  was  exquisite. 

"I  have  a  book  which  I  will  send  you  at  once,"  said 
he  to  Zurdoki  ;  "  if  you  look  into  it  attentively,  you  will 
find  that  it  is  really  quite  impossible  for  me  to  be  jealous 
of  you." 

Zurdoki  was  very  curious  to  see  this  odd  book.  He 
could  scarcely  wait  patiently  for  the  heyduke  to  bring  it 
to  him.  It  was  bound  in  heavy  morocco  covers,  and 
when  Zurdoki  opened  them  he  found  nothing  inside  but 
a  mirror.  In  that  he  read  that  Hommonai  could  not  be 
jealous  of  so  ugly  a  face  as  his. 

He  dashed  the  mirror  to  the  ground  and  rode  away 
from  Kassa  that  very  day.  The  goal  of  his  journey  was 
his  castle  at  Saros. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

'Tis  a  true  proverb  which  says  that  the  devil  sends  an  old  woman  when 
he  cannot  come  himself  ;  but  of  course  it  only  applies  to  wicked 
old  women,  for  there  are  very  many  gentlewomen  well  advanced 
in  years  who  lead  a  God-fearing  life  and  do  good  to  their  fel- 
low-creatures. 

Mr.  Zurdoki  left  Kassa  in  rage  and  fury,  and  there 
were  very  many  reasons  why  he  should  so  leave  it.  In 
the  first  place  the  object  of  his  scheming  had  been  frustrated 
by  his  enforced  departure  from  the  city.  He  was  to  have 
spurred  on  to  action  there  the  party  which  leaned  to 
Vienna,  and  thus  facilitated  George  Rakoczy's  plan  of 
handing  over  to  Ferdinand  of  Austria  the  trans-Theissian 
counties.  At  Kassa,  Mr.  Zwirina  was  his  willing  ally, 
but  now  all  communication  between  them  was  cut  off^ 
He  was  also  well  aware  that  the  citizens  of  Kassa  are  very 
stiff-necked  people.  Whenever  they  say  "  no,"  the  Sultan, 
the  Kaiser,  and  the  Prince  of  Transylvania  may  say 
"  yes,"  in  vain.  For  when  the  potentates  lay  their  heads 
together,  and  lay  out  the  land  in  a  way  the  people  of 
Kassa  don't  like,  the  sheriff  of  Kassa  simply  wets  his 
fingers  and  rubs  out  the  proposed  line  of  demarcation. 
Nor  do  they  much  mind  being  besieged  for  a  couple  of 
years  or  so  ;  they  have  often  enough  experienced  that. 
And  when  the  Imperial  general  sends  his  shots  into  the 
city,  they  shoot  them  back  again  into  his  camp,  and  at  last 
undermine  the  very  ground  beneath  his  feet.  You  had  to 
be  very  clever  indeed  to  get  the  better  of  the  citizens  of 
Kassa. 

246 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  247 

The  threads  of  Zurdoki's  crafty  policy  had  been  woven 
together  in  the  letter  deciphered  by  Valentine  Kalondai, 
and  Zurdoki  was  one  of  those  who  were  perpetually  urging 
the  anabitious  George  Rakoczy  to  conquer  Poland.  The 
governorship  of  Cracow  was  the  prize  reserved  for  him- 
self, and  the  prospect  of  the  loss  of  that  lucrative  post 
piqued  him  exceedingly. 

The  second  cause  of  his  rage  was  his  unsatisfied 
personal  grudge  against  those  who  had  forestalled  him, 
viz.,  Count  Hommonai  and  Valentine  Kalondai. 

In  the  third  place  he  was  in  love  with  the  wives  of  the 
count  and  the  castellan,  and  the  old  miscreant  had  got 
the  idea  into  his  shaven  head  of  corrupting  them  both, 
and  to  this  idea  he  stuck  through  thick  and  thin. 

On  arriving  at  Saros,  he  gave  up  all  the  time  that  was 
not  devotea  to  political  intrigues  to  elaborating  this  evil 
design. 

That  Dame  Kalondai  had  been  married  to  her  husband 
at  Bartfa  he  had  already  learnt  from  old  Dame  Zwirina, 
who  had  told  him  so  immediately  after  that  memora- 
ble dance.  He  also  knew  from  the  same  person  that 
Michal's  face,  during  her  earlier  residence  at  Kassa,  had 
been  disfigured  by  great  brown  patches,  which  had  sub- 
sequently vanished  in  a  most  marvelous  manner.  She 
had  said  then  that  they  were  freckles,  which  always  go 
away  in  winter ;  yet  since  then  another  summer  had 
come  and  gone,  and  yet  not  a  single  freckle  had  re- 
appeared. 

From  this  Zurdoki's  crafty  intellect  concluded  that  if 
the  roses  and  lilies  on  Dame  Kalondai's  face  were  not  of 
artificial  growth,  the  disfiguring  freckles  must  have  been 
painted  on  designedly,  and  there  must  be  some  reason 
for  it. 

He  took    the   trouble  to  go   all   the   way   to    Bdrtfa, 


248  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

searched  on  the  spot  the  records  which  testify  to  the 
ir.arriage  of  Valentine  Kalondai,  and  learnt  therefrom 
with  whom  pretty — nay,  ugly  Michal,  had  been  in  ser- 

"ice. 

There  they  recollected  the  freckle-faced  girl  very  well, 
md  they  also  told  him  what  sort  of  a  person  it  was  who 
had  brought  the  damsel  thither. 

But  to  find  this  woman  now  was  not  very  easy. 

Red  Barbara  had  certainly  gone  to  Poland,  where  she 
had  no  reason  to  fear  that  she  would  fall  into  the  hands 
of  Henry  Catsrider,  who,  if  he  came  across  her,  would 
guess  at  once  that  she  had  set  his  house  on  fire,  and  that 
the  two  charred  skulls  which  had  been  found  under  the 
debris  were  the  remains,  not  of  Barbara  and  Michal,  but  of 
the  two  lads.  And  thus  he  could  ferret  out  many  other 
things,  especially  if  he  took  the  trouble  to  investigate  how 
the  splendid  garments  and  jewels  which  he  himself  had 
bought  to  rejoice  pretty  Michal's  heart  had  found  their 
way  to  the  Cracow  rag  market. 

Nevertheless  Mr.  Zurdoki  persistently  followed  up  his 

clew. 

The  witch,  he  argued,  must  have  had  associates  in  the 
country.  Witches  form  a  sort  of  guild,  and  are  closely 
united  to  one  another.  So  he  searched  and  searched  till 
at  last  he  found  the  wife  of  the  Kopanitschar  of  Zeb. 
There  he  gave  a  great  banquet,  danced  all  night  v;ith  the 
Kopanitschar's  wife,  and  after  exhausting  all  his  flatteries 
upon  her,  well  plying  her  with  wine  and  loading  her  with 
gifts,  he  learnt  from  her  that  she  had  indeed  been  ac- 
quainted with  a  woman  who  had  sprung  up  from  the 
bowels  of  the  earth  one  night  with  a  freckle-faced  girl, 
and  had  then  flown  away  through  the  air  with  her.  The 
Kopanitschar's  wife  also  knew  where  Red  Barbara  was 
now  to  be  found. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  249 

In  those  days  the  more  the  witches  were  persecuted,  the 
more  they  multipHed.  Many  lonely  old  women,  and  even 
younger  ones  who  were  separated  from  their  husbands, 
not  to  mention  a  few  young  widows,  got  it  into  their 
heads  that  they  were  witches.  They  took  great  pride  in 
the  idea  that  men  were  afraid  of  them,  and  regarded 
them  as  supernatural  beings,  and  for  the  sake  of  this  sense- 
less reputation  did  not  even  flinch  from  the  horrors  of  a 
lingering  death.  There  were  quack  anointers  among 
them,  too,  who  distributed  to  the  others  a  salve  made  of 
stupefying,  poisonous  herbs,  which,  when  well  rubbed  in- 
to their  bodies,  took  away  their  senses,  gave  them  deliri- 
ous visions,  and  made  their  excited  fancy  believe  that 
they  were  at  witches'  sabbaths  in  the  society  of  the  devil  ; 
or  gave  them  morbidly  voluptuous  dreams  such  as  haunt 
opium  eaters,  so  that  on  awakening  they  firmly  believed 
that  their  dreams  were  solid  facts,  and  thus  they  openly 
confessed  to  deeds  which  they  had  only  dreamt  of  doing. 
To  such  magic  ointment-makers  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
witches  looked  up  as  their  natural  chiefs,  went  enormous 
distances  to  consult  them,  and  in  fact  never  lost  sight 
of  them. 

Thus  Annie  knew  very  well  where  Red  Barbara  was  to 
be  found,  although  the  latter  had  not  considered  it  ex- 
pedient to  return  to  Hungary. 

With  Barbara's  money  it  had  been  lightly'come,  lightly 
go  !  She  had  gone  with  her  hoard  of  ducats  and  her 
costly  dresses  to  Sandomir,  where  she  gave  herself  out 
for  a  great  lady,  lived  riotously  with  the  professional 
thieves  of  the  place,  and  after  spending  all  her  ready 
cash,  sold  her  jewels  likewise.  Then  the  pretty  dresses 
went  too,  till  at  last  she  found  herself  once  more  the 
same  old  tattered  hag  she  had  been  before,  and  began 
again  to  haunt  young  women  to  tell  them  lies  about  their 


250  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

future,  and  give  them  bad  advice  in  return  for  clandes- 
tine ducats. 

This  was  just  the  sort  of  woman  Zurdoki  wanted. 

He  commissioned  Annie  to  seek  out  Barbara,  and  gave 
the  latter  money  for  her  journey,  besides  a  letter  certify- 
ing that  she  belonged  to  his  household.  This  certificate 
she  was  to  show  to  all  and  sundry  who  might  stop  heron 
the  way.     He  was  now  quite  certain  of  success. 

Meanwhile,  great  changes  were  taking  place  at  Kassa. 

The  day  for  the  election  of  the  sheriff  had  arrived, 
for  according  to  ancient  custom  a  new  sheriff  had  to  be 
elected  every  year. 

Valentine  Kalondai,  with  God's  help,  had  already 
advanced  very  far.  He  had  administered  the  office  of 
castellan  so  excellently  well  that  everyone  was  persuaded 
that  the  Keszmar  professors  had  acted  very  unjustly 
in  expelling  him  from  college.  But  since  discovering 
Zurdoki's  intrigues,  he  had  risen  so  high  in  the  opinion 
of  his  fellow-citizens  that,  when  the  time  for  the  election 
of  the  sheriff  came  round,  no  one  would  hear  of  anybody 
else  for  that  office  but  him.  Besides,  said  they,  did  not 
his  father  sacrifice  himself  for  the  benefit  of  the  town 
when  he  was  sheriff,  and  Valentine  was  much  more  fitted 
for  the  post  than  ever  his  father  had  been. 

That  the  commandant,  Count  Hommonai,  was  a  great 
patron  of  his,  and  warmly  recommended  him  everywhere, 
naturally  did  him  no  harm  either. 

Nevertheless,  to  appease  the  opposite  faction  and  pre- 
vent the  citizens  from  quarreling  among  themselves,  it 
was  arranged  that  Mr.  Zwirina,  senior,  who  had  hitherto 
been  curator,  should  be  made  burgomaster,  while  Igna- 
tius his  son  should  become  curator  m  his  stead.  In  this 
way  all  parties  were  satisfied. 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  251 

All  three  elections  took  place  in  the  most  orderly  way. 
First,  on  Epiphany,  the  burgomaster — or,  as  he  was  then 
called,  the  superrector — was  appointed,  and  then  the 
curator,  who  had  a  weighty  office  to  perform.  He  had  to 
choose  from  among  the  most  respectable  citizens  a 
hundred  persons,  who  were  to  duly  elect  the  sheriff. 
Fifty  of  these  electors  had  to  be  Hungarians,  and  the  re- 
maining fifty  Germans  and  Slovacks  in  equal  numbers. 
As  to  confessions  of  faith,  four-and-thirty  of  the  hundred 
had  to  be  Calvinists,  three-and-thirty  Lutherans,  and  just 
as  many  Papists. 

It  was  no  light  manner  to  get  together  one  hundred 
electors  who  should  satisfy  all  these  requirements. 

At  last,  however,  the  hundred  electors  were  all  found, 
and  then  all  the  gates  were  closed,  and  no  one  was  allowed 
to  enter  the  city. 

The  hundred  electors  assembled  in  the  townhall,  and 
agreed  among  themselves  as  to  the  sheriff-elect. 

Then  they  proceeded  in  perfect  silence  to  the  market- 
place, where  a  car  drawn  by  six  horses,  and  covered  by  a 
black  cloth  baldeluir,  which  made  it  look  just  like  a 
hearse,  awaited  them.  The  retiring  sheriff  had  to  sit 
down  in  this  car,  and  the  hundred  electors  walked  along- 
side it  on  foot,  as  if  they  were  accompanying  a  corpse 
on  its  last  journey  to  the  churchyard.  And  it  was 
indeed,  to  the  churchyard  that  the  procession  went,  and 
ail  the  streets  were  thickly  strewn  with  straw,  so  that  the 
rattling  of  the  car  might  not  be  heard. 

In  front  of  the  churchyard  the  representatives  of  the 
guilds,  with  the  symbols  of  their  trade  on  long  poles,  were 
drawn  up  in  two  lines  :  the  butcher  held  his  hatchet,  the 
cobbler  his  last,  the  tailor  his  shears,  the  mason  his  trowel, 
the  metal-smelter  his  mortar,  the  carpenter  his  ax,  the 
joiner  his  plane.     But  the  guild  of  the  organ-builders 


252  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

was  represented  by  the  image  of  its  patron  St.  Cecilia, 
fastened  in  a  banner. 

And  all  this  time  the  town  was  as  silent  as  the  grave. 
No  music,  no  noise  of  any  kind  was  allowed. 

The  electors  and  the  guildsmen  marched  into  the  very 
center  of  the  churchyard,  which  was  likewise  covered 
with  straw,  and  all  stood  around  the  chapel  in  a  half-circle. 
Then  the  retiring  sheriff  arose  in  the  car,  which  was 
laden  with  eighteen  long,  smoothly  planed  boards  of  the 
hardest  wood,  and  said  to  the  burgesses  : 

"  Gentlemen  and  judges,  let  thy  servant  depart !  " 
whereupon  the  curator  answered  in  the  name  of  the 
rest : 

"  Thou  hast  served  us  faithfully,  depart  in  peace  !  " 

Then  the  sheriff  came  down  from  the  car. 

"  To  whom  am  I  to  give  these  eighteen  boards  ? "  he 
asked. 

"  To  the  noble,  valiant,  worshipful  burgher,  Valentine 
Kalondai,"  replied  the  curator,  in  the  name  of  the  electors. 

Then  the  car  was  turned  round,  and  went  back  into 
the  town  as  silently  as  it  came,  and  this  time,  not  only 
the  hundred  electors,  but  the  representatives  of  the 
guilds  also  escorted  it. 

The  car  stood  still  before  Kalondai's  house,  the  doors 
and  windows  of  which  were  shut,  as  indeed  were  the 
windows  and  dAors  of  all  the  houses,  and  closed  they  must 
remain  till  the  pealings  of  the  church-bells  gave  them  the 
signal  to  reopen. 

At  the  knocking  of  the  curator,  Valentine  Kalondai 
appeared  on  the  balcony. 

"  What  do  the  citizens  require  of  me  ?" 

"  Admittance  with  our  car  and  our  tools,"  answered 
the  curator. 

"  And  what  am  I  to  do  with  your  car  and  your  tools  ? " 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  253 

"Valentine  Kalondai,  the  citizens  of  the  town  of  Kassa 
have  this  day,  of  their  own  free  will,  chosen  you  their 
sheriff.  These  tools  which  we  have  brought  with  us  are 
the  symbols  of  our  prosperity,  which  we  now  intrust  to 
your  safe  keeping.  For  a  whole  year  to  come  the  care 
of  our  peace  and  our  prosperity  lies  in  your  hands.  But 
on  this  car,  according  to  ancient  law  and  custom,  we 
have  brought  you  eighteen  boards :  six  for  your  coffin, 
in  case  you  die  in  the  service  of  our  city,  but  twelve 
for  the  fagots  round  your  stake  in  case  you  betray  the 
town  wherein  you  were  born.  Will  you  admit  us  within 
your  gates  ?  " 

"  Come  in,  and  welcome,  in  God's  name  !  "  said  Valen- 
tine, and  thereupon  he  opened  the  gate  of  his  court- 
yard, and  the  heavy  car  lumbered  rattling  in. 

Dame  Sarah  had  overheard  the  conversation  in  the 
next  room,  and,  through  the  closed  window,  said  to 
pretty  Michal  : 

"I  know  not  how  it  is,  but  I  am  so  delighted  that  my 
teeth  chatter,  and  an  ague  shakes  me." 

"  'Tis  just  the  same  with  me,"  whispered  pretty 
Michal. 

But  Valentine  went  down  into  the  courtyard  to  the 
electors,  and  took  the  eighteen  boards,  six  of  which  were 
for  a  coffin  for  the  faithful,  and  twelve  for  fagots  for 
the  faithless  sheriff. 

Then  they  escorted  the  sheriff-elect  to  the  townhall. 
There  the  two  eldest  town-councilors  led  him  by  the 
hand  to  the  council-chamber,  and  bade  him  take  his 
place  in  the  sheriff's  chair,  at  the  upper  end  of  the  table, 
which  was  covered  with  a  green  cloth.  Then  the  four 
youngest  town-councilors  seized  the  four  legs  of  the 
chair  and  raised  it,  Valentine  and  all,  on  to  their 
shoulders,  and  carried  him   out  on  the  balcony  of  the 


254  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

tovvnhall,  while  the  hundred  electors  iv  lu*:  council- 
chamber  shouted  aloud,  ''Vivat!" 

At  the  third  vivat  all  the  mortars  in  th^  market-place 
were  fired  off,  and  immediately  afterward  all  the  bells 
in  the  church  towers  rang  out,  the  town  band  blew  with 
the  trumpets,  the  town  drummer  beat  the  big  drum  in 
the  square,  in  front  of  the  cathedral,  and  the  civic  watch 
fired  three  salvos  out  of  their  heavy  muskets,  while  all 
the  people  filled  the  air  with  their  loud  rejoicings.  The 
straw  was  swept  away  from  all  the  streets,  and  fresh 
green  grass,  specially  mowed  for  the  occasion,  laid  down 
instead.  Then  the  procession  set  out  again  from  the 
townhall,  the  guilds  going  before  with  their  banners 
and  the  militia  with  their  weapons,  with  the  sheriff  in  the 
midst  under  a  canopy — and  thus  the  guard  of  honor 
proceeded  to  the  churches  of  all  denominations,  as  a 
sign  that  the  new  head  of  the  town  would  honor  the 
creeds  of  all  confessions  according  to  law  and  custom. 
There  they  prayed  in  the  Hungarian,  German,  and 
Slovack  languages,  and  after  makiug  the  circuit  of  the 
town,  set  the  sheriff  on  horseback,  and  placed  the  civic 
sword  in  his  hand  to  signify  that,  in  case  of  war,  he  was 
ready,  if  necessary,  to  defend  the  city  by  force  of  arms  ; 
whereupon  they  accompanied  him  back  to  his  house, 
while  the  trumpets  blew  and  the  bells  pealed  continu- 
ously. And  by  this  time  all  the  doors  and  windows 
were  opened,  and  thronged  with  spectators. 

Among  the  many  trumpeters  who  strode  along  before 
the  sheriff's  horse  was  worthy  Simplex,  who  looked  up 
from  time  to  time  at  his  old  friend,  as  if  he  thought  that 
a  part  of  all  this  pomp  and  splendor  belonged  to  him. 
And  Valentine  Kalondai  looked  down  from  his  high 
horse  upon  his  old  bosom  friend,  and  beckoned  kindly 
to  him  with  his  naked  sword  ;  nay,  when  they  came  to  his 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  255 

own  gate,  he  stuck  his  middle  finger  into  his  open  mouth 
and  pointed  up  at  the  house,  which  means  in  all  the 
languages  of  the  world,  "  Mind  you  also  come  up  to 
the  banquet  !  " 

For  the  good  old  custom  then  prevailed  that  the 
elected  sheriff,  when  the  solemn  function  was  over, 
should  entertain  the  whole  of  the  magistrates,  not  for- 
getting their  lowliest  servant,  so  that  no  one  took  it  ill  of 
him  in  the  least  for  inviting  the  civic  trumpeter  to  table 
also. 

And  now  the  women  had  all  their  work  cut  out  for  them, 
and  indeed  on  all  such  festive  occasions  they  have  by  far 
the  hardest  part  to  play.  The  men  can  very  soon  get 
through  their  hocus-pocus,  and  it  does  not  very  much 
matter  whether  they  gabble  off  their  set  speeches  like 
parrots,  or  stick  fast  in  the  middle  o,.  them  like  asses  ; 
but  what  with  cooking  and  baking  .nd  roasting,  the 
poor  women  have  no  rest  or  repose  for  a  whole  week 
beforehand,  for  the  comfort  and  convenience  of  the 
guests  depend  entirely  upon  them,  and  they  must  see 
to  it  that  no  one  has  the  slightest  cause  to  grumble. 
For  the  last  three  nights  they  had  scarcely  closed  an 
eye. 

A  good  old  sumptuary  ordinance  provided  that  the 
lesser  burgesses  should  be  first  provided  for  in  roomy 
tents  erected  in  the  courtyard,  while  the  notables,  among 
whom  the  commandant  and  his  lovely  wife  took  prece- 
dence, were  regaled  in  the  family  mansion  itself. 

Besides  these  two  groups  of  guests,  there  was  yet  an- 
other sort,  consisting  of  the  beggars  of  the  town. 

These  ragged  ones  limped  in  a  long  row  through  the 

streets,  and  stopped  in  turn   at  the  bottom  of  the  flight 

of  steps  which  led  up  to  the  door  of  the  pantry.     On  the 

lowest  of  these  steps  stood  pretty  Michal,  and  gave  them 
17 


256  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

a  huge  loaf  apiece,  while  Ali,  the  Turk,  filled  each  one's 
jug  with  as  much  beer  as  it  would  hold. 

After  the  male  came  the  female  beggars.  The  Cal^ 
vinists  saluted  prety  Michal  with  "  God  give  you  blessing 
and  peace ! "  the  Papists  with  "  Praised  be  Jesus 
Christ!"  and  pretty  Michal  returned  each  salutation 
most  sweetly.  Whenever  she  saw  a  beggar-woman  with 
a  child  in  her  arms,  she  gave  her  two  loaves  instead  ol 
one,  and  although  herself  a  Protestant,  she  nevertheless 
always  answered  the  "  Praised  be  Jesus  Christ  !  "  with  a 
devout  "  For  ever  and  ever,  Amen."  And  the  beggars 
said  to  one  another  as  they  went  away,  "  Oh  !  what  a 
beautiful,  good,  blessed  creature  !  May  God  preserve 
her  for  a  hundred  years  to  come  !  " 

All  at  once  there  came  hobbling  along  among  the  beg. 
gars,  a  woman  whose  head  was  swathed  in  a  red  cloth, 
who  held  one  hand  to  her  mouth,  and  looked  at  the  young 
woman  with  her  large  piercing  black  eyes,  as  if  she  would 
have  devoured  her. 

When  this  strange  shape  reached  pretty  Michal,  she 
whispered  in  her  ear,  with  a  mocking,  singing  drawl,  not  the 
usual  salutation,  but  the  words,  "  Praised  be — the  pretty 
lady  !  "  And  then,  for  a  single  instant,  she  showed  her 
face,  which  was  distorted  by  a  devilish  grin. 

Pretty  Michal  collapsed  utterly.  Had  not  the  faith- 
ful  Ali  caught  her  in  his  arms,  she  would  have  dashed 
her  head  against  the  stones. 

The  beggar  with  the  red  cloth  had  disappeared  in  the 
crowd.  Most  likely  no  one  had  observed  her,  but,  at  any 
rate,  no  one  troubled. himself  about  her. 

On  hearing  that  pretty  Michal  had  fainted,  all  the 
women  came  running  together,  and  carried  her  into  the 
house.  Then,  with  many  winks  and  smiles,  they  whiS' 
pered  to  each  other  over  her  body.     When  a  young  wife 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  257 

faints  there  is  no  reason  to  be  alarmed.  The  indisposi- 
tion goes  away  of  its  own  accord.  The  more  initiated 
playfully  take  the  husband  to  task  for  it,  and  he  gener- 
ally blushes  and  looks  stupid  enough.  When  a  young 
wife  swoons  away,  she  is  not  so  very  desperately  ill  after 
all.  The  women  soothed  and  calmed  pretty  Michal,  and 
told  her  not  to  exert  herself  and  not  to  sit  at  table.  They 
could  drink  to  her  health,  or  rather  to  her  speedy  recov- 
ery, without  her  assistance. 

So  the  banquet  went  on  right  merrily  without  her, 
especially  after  Dame  Sarah  had  received  the  reassuring 
intelligence  that  there  was  really  nothing  the  matter,  the 
young  wife  only  required  a  little  rest.  They  drank  to  the 
prosperityof  the  land,  the  town,  and  all  the  distinguished 
guests  present,  without  exception.  The  new  sheriff  had 
to  clink  glasses  and  drink  bumpers  with  so  many  people 
that  his  happiness  was  almost  too  much  for  him.  Even 
the  two  Zwirinas  made  Latin  verses  in  his  honor,  so  that  his 
triumph  that  day  was  complete.  At  last  Count  Hommonai 
himself  raised  his  beaker,  and  looking  at  Valentine,  cried  : 
"  God  preserve  the  man  whom  I  love  most  of  all  my  fel- 
low-men, and  with  whom  I  am  ready  to  share  all  my 
riches  and  all  my  honor  !  " 

Then  Valentine  raised  his  tankard  and  proposed  this 
toast : 

"  God  preserve  the  friend  who  has  shared  with  me  all 
the  contrarieties  of  life,  my  good  comrade  Simplex  !  " 

And  the  commandant  drank  with  the  sheriff  to  the 
health  of  the  trumpeter,  although  one  or  two  fastidious 
gentlemen  turned  up  their  noses  in  consequence.  But 
the  majority  liked  Valentine  all  the  better  for  not  for- 
getting his  lowly  comrade  in  the  hour  of  his  greatest 
elevation. 

Very  late  at  \\v^\\.  the  merry  company  dispersed,  and 


258  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

Greek  fire  flamed  on  all  the  bastions  in  honor  of  the 
happy  day. 

Valentine  hastened  to  his  Michal.  His  brain  was  reel- 
ing. He  was  brimful  of  the  splendor  of  that  day's 
triumph.  In  such  a  condition,  a  man  deems  it  impossible 
that  his  own  spouse,  the  second  half  of  his  soul,  can 
perhaps  be  just  as  full  of  grief  and  despair  as  he  of  joy. 

Beaming  with  pride,  he  advanced  toward  the  bed  on 
which  pretty  Michal  lay.  But  she,  with  a  horrified  face, 
fell  upon  his  neck,  drew  his  head  down  toward  her  and 
whispered  in  his  ear  what  she  could  have  screamed  aloud 
for  terror  : 

"  Let  us  fly.     Red  Barbara  is  here  !  " 

At  these  words,  Valentine's  face  grew  pale,  and  the  ^1 

pride  of  his  heart  was  gone. 


CHAPTER  XXXIl. 

Whereby  we  learn  that  it  is  not  good  to  come  to  close  quarters  with 
Satan,  for  if  we  catch  him  by  the  horns  he  butts  us,  if  we  clutch 
him  by  the  throat  he  bites  us,  and  if  we  hold  him  by  the  neck  he 
kicks  us. 

"  Perhaps  it  was  not  she  after  all  ?" 

"  It  was.  She  looked  at  me,  spoke  to  me,  mocked  me, 
and  threatened  me.  Oh  !  all  my  limbs  are  still  trem- 
bHng!" 

"  Don't  tremble,  darling  !  Lay  your  hand  on  my  breast 
and  warm  it.     Have  I  not  the  power  to  defend  you  ?" 

"  No  !  Though  you  had  the  power  to  defend  me  against 
all  the  world,  you  would  be  powerless  against  this  woman, 
and  you  know  it." 

"  Don't  be  afraid  of  her  !  She  was  in  rags,  you  say  ? 
I'll  pay  her  off,  and  she'll  hold  her  tongue  and  go  her 
way.  Even  if  it  will  cost  me  my  whole  fortune,  I'll  buy 
her  off  and  give  you  peace.  Don't  be  afraid  of  her  ! 
She  will  certainly  come  again  to  see  what  she  can  get. 
Here  is  the  key  of  my  strong-box.  Give  her  money. 
Manage  so  that  mother  knows  nothing  about  it.  As  soon 
as  you  have  satisfied  her,  I'll  have  all  the  foreign  itinerant 
beggars,  quacks,  and  fortune-tellers  drummed  out  of  the 
town  within  twenty-four  hours,  and  then  she  also  will 
vanish." 

Valentine's  soothing  words  had  very  little  effect  upon 
pretty  Michal.  All  night  long  she  was  plagued  by  horri- 
ble dreams,  and  frequently  sprang  out  of  bed  as  if  Death 
himself  was  after  her. 

aw 


i6o  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

Next  day,  while  Valentine  was  at  the  townhall,  Mi- 
chal  listened  anxiously  whenever  a  door  creaked  or  a  dog 
barked,  and  often  peeped  into  the  street  through  the 
closed  window  ;  but  no  one  disturbed  her  all  that  day. 
The  terrific  form  did  not  appear. 

The  third  day  passed,  and  the  fourth,  and  yet  the 
dreaded  specter  did  not  appear.  Michal  began  to  be- 
lieve that  the  terrible  beggar-woman  had  after  all  only 
been  a  phantom,  the  mere  creature  of  her  own  imagma- 
t'on. 

And  so  Friday  arrived,  when  the  beggars  of  the  town 
visit  every  house  in  turn,  and  every  door  must  be  opened 
to  them. 

Pretty  Michal  used  personally  to  distribute  the  Fri- 
day's alms,  a  piece  of  bread  and  a  penny,  at  the  kitchen 
door. 

At  last  the  shape  swathed  in  the  red  cloth,  the  shape 
so  long  expected  in  fear  and  trembling,  came  to  the 
half-open  door,  and  began  the  usual  beggar's  whine, 
"  Praised  be  the " 

Michal  did  not  let  her  finish  the  blasphemous  saluta- 
tion, but  seized  her  by  the  hand  and  drew  her  rapidly 
into  a  side  chamber.  Here  the  beggar-woman  took  the 
cloth  from  her  head,  and  laughed  in  Michal's  face. 

"  Well  !  Here  I  am  again  !  Eh  ?  Have  you  thought 
about  me  much?  Have  you  often  mentioned  me  to 
your  husband  ?  Have  you  ever  said  :  '  I  wonder  where 
poor  Barbara  is  ?  If  only  we  could  see  her  once  more  ? ' 
Do  you  still  recognize  me  ?  I  haven't  grown  much 
younger  since  then,  have  I  ?  " 

"  Barbara  !  "  said  Michal,  rallying  all  her  courage,  "we 
must  not  converse  very  long  together  or  else  my  mother 

will  hear  it." 

"  Ah,  ha  !     So  you  have  another  mother  besides  me  ?  " 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  261 

"I  know  what  you  want — money.  I'll  give  you  all  I 
can,  and  then,  in  God's  name,  go  !  " 

"  I  don't  want  money — there  now  !  I  have  enough  of 
that  and  to  spare.  Look  !  "  and  with  that  she  showed 
her  a  netted  purse  in  which  were  at  least  two  hundred 
ducats.  "  I  want  something  else.  I  won't  go  from 
hence  in  anyone's  holy  name,  for  I've  not  come  hither  to 
be  sent  away,  but  to  talk  to  you.  Yes,  to  talk  to  you,  in 
all  secrecy,  yet  without  fear.  I  already  know  all  the  habits 
of  this  household.  At  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  your 
husband  goes  to  the  townhall  to  attend  to  his  business. 
At  the  selfsame  hour,  the  old  lady  has  her  afternoon 
nap.  She  has  need  of  it,  poor  thing.  In  the  afternoon 
the  shop  is  closed,  and  not  opened  again  till  six  in  the 
evening  ;  for  no  one  sends  for  meat  in  the  afternoon, 
and  meanwhile  the  apprentices  are  busy  at  the  draw- 
bridge. But  behind  the  gate  is  a  side  door,  through 
which  the  meat  is  carried  up  into  the  shop,  to  be  cured 
and  salted  ;  through  that  door  I  can  creep  in  unobserved. 
Even  the  dogs  don't  bark  at  me.  Be  there  in  the  after- 
noon when  it  strikes  two  !  Then  I'll  tell  you  some- 
thing." 

With  that  she  quickly  whipped  the  cloth  round  her 
head  again,  and  whisked  out  of  the  room,  shuffling  and 
scraping  all  the  way  down  the  long  corridor  as  beggar- 
women  do. 

Michal  remained  behind,  tormented  by  agonizing 
doubts.  What  did  this  woman,  who  had  so  much  power 
over  her,  mean  to  do  with  her?  If  she  will  not  let  her 
silence  be  bought  with  gold,  what  price  will  she  demand 
for  it  ? 

She  said  nothing  to  anyone,  not  even  to  her  husband, 
about  the  rendezvous  ;  but  it  seemed  an  age  to  her  be- 
fore Valentine  went  off  to  the  townhall,  and  her  mother- 


262  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

in-law  began  dozing  in  her  armchair.  At  the  stroke  of 
two,  she  was  already  in  the  shop  below,  the  trellis-door 
of  which,  leading  to  the  street,  was  closed,  while  the 
side  door  near  the  gateway  stood  ajar. 

Red  Barbara  appeared  punctually.  She  looked  cau- 
tiously round  for  fear  of  an  ambush,  and  then  slowly 
closed  the  door  behind  her  that  it  might  not  creak. 
Then  she  stroked  pretty  Michal's  face  with  her  rough 
red  hand,  and  said  with  cunning  flattery : 

"  Eh !  my  little  sweetheart,  how  lovely  you  have 
grown  since  last  I  saw  you  !  " 

Her  touch,  her  words,  made  Michal  shudder. 

"  I  don't  wonder  at  all  at  the  enamoured  Zurdoki 
going  quite  off  his  head  about  you." 

"Zurdoki?" 

"  Yes,  my  dear  little  cockchafer  !  You  may  be  quite 
sure  that  I  have  not  come  all  the  way  to  your  dismal 
town  of  Kassa  for  my  own  amusement,  but  because  I 
have  been  sent  thither.  The  fine  stout  gentleman,  the 
gracious,  rich,  and  kind  old  gentleman,  said  to  me  :  '  Go, 
dear  gossip  Barbara,  go  to  the  town  of  Kassa,  seek 
there  my  wondrous  little  flower,  the  pretty  wife  of  Valen- 
tine Kalondai,  your  own  dear  daughter,  whom  you  got 
married  to  her  husband  at  Bartfa,  and  take  her  this 
costly  girdle.  She  must  wear  it  for  my  sake,  and  it  will 
make  her  more  beautiful  than  ever  !  ' " 

The  girdle  was  inlaid  with  turquoises  and  Orient 
pearls,  a  gift  meet  for  a  princess. 

Michal  dashed  it  angrily  to  the  ground. 

"  Shameless  wretch  !  " 

"  Whom  do  you  call  shameless  ?     Me  ?  " 

*'  No,  the  sender." 

"  Oh,  my  treasure  !  I  don't  say  that's  all.  He  will 
give  you  very  much  more   than  that.     He  will  load  you 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  263 

with  precious  things,  so  that   your  beauty  will  shine  forth 
still  more  resplendently." 

"  I  won't  have  his  presents  !  " 

"  Who  dares  to  talk  of  presents  here  ?  It  is  not  pres- 
ents that  a  pretty  woman  receives.  Oh,  no  !  When  any 
one  brings  a  costly  offering  to  a  saint,  he  does  it  to  open 
the  way  to  heaven  in  the  next  world  ;  and  when  anyone 
sends;  costly  offerings  to  a  pretty  woman,  he  does  it  to  ob- 
tain heaven  here  below.  That  is  no  present,  but  a  well- 
earned  reward." 

"Reward!     For  what?" 

"  For  what  ?  How  simple  we  are  !  Why,  for  admit- 
ting  someone  into  your  heaven,  of  course." 

"What  !  The  horrible  old  devil  really  believes  that  of 
me  ? " 

"Come,  come  !  A  man  is  never  horrible,  and  the  devil 
is  never  old.  If  you  think  him  ugly  I'll  give  you  a  magic 
potion,  and  with  that  in  your  body  you'll  think  him  a 
prince." 

"  Go  to  hell  with  him  !  ugly  or  handsome.  I'll  none 
of  him  !     I  have  a  husband  whom  I  love." 

"  You  have  two  husbands,  and  one  of  them  you  do  not 
love.  Your  first  and  lawful  husband,  whom  you  have 
forsaken  for  the  more  comely  one,  lives  the  life  of  a  lonely, 
dismal  bachelor  at  Zeb.  You  are  on  a  crooked  path. 
Do  you  fancy  you  can  keep  straight  ?  No  !  you  must 
go  on  as  you  have  begun.  Do  you  think  that  I  only  took 
you  away  from  the  house  of  the  headsman  of  Zeb,  in 
order  that  one  stout  butcher's  wife  the  more  might  in 
course  of  time  sit  in  the  front  pew  of  the  Cathedral  of 
Kassa  ? " 

"  You  frightful  woman  !  What  do  you  mean  to  do 
with  me  ?  " 

"  What  do  I  mean   to  do  with  you  ?     Why,  you   iilllc 


264  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

fool  !  I  want  to  give  you  the  whole  world.  I  want  you 
to  find  out  what  sort  of  fruit  grew  on  the  tree  of  which 
our  mother  Eve  plucked  one.  Why,  when  she  was  about 
it,  did  she  not  pick  ten  or  twenty  ?  If  I  had  wished  you 
to  join  the  ranks  of  the  saints  as  a  martyr,  I  should  have 
left  you  in  the  house  of  the  headsman  of  Zeb,  shouldn't 
I  ?  Do  you  suppose  that  I  do  not  know  how  to  value 
your  beautiful  white  velvety  skin,  your  large  sparkling 
eyes,  your  round  cheeks,  your  inviting  lips,  your  fine 
figure  ?  All  the  noble  opals  in  the  mines  of  Dubink  are 
not  half  as  numerous  as  the  precious  stones  which  will  be 
laid  at  your  feet  whenever  you  like.  Your  fingers  will 
turn  whatever  they  touch  to  gold.  If  you  only  do  what 
I  tell  you,  you'll  be  richer  than  King  Darius.  And  it 
won't  cost  you  the  least  trouble.  It  will  seem  as  if  you 
only  dreamt  it  all.  Who  can  call  you  to  account  for  what 
you  dream?  Do  you  go  to  confession  merely  for  dream- 
ing that  you  are  another  man's  wife.  Fear  nothing  !  If 
only  you  will  put  yourself  in  my  hands,  you  will  tread  on 
no  one's  corns.  But  if  you  try  to  get  away  from  me,  it 
will  only  be  so  much  labor  lost.  I  have  only  to  send  a 
letter,  a  word,  to  Henry  Catsrider,  and  you  and  your 
Valentine  are  lost.  We  shall  see  pretty  Michal  publicly 
scourged  with  rods  and  branded  with  red-hot  irons  in  the 
market-place,  and  they  will  strike  off  the  head  of  the 
sheriff  of  Kassa  ;  for  your  lawfully  wedded  husband  still 
lives,  and  you  were  not  separated  from  him  when  you 
married  the  second." 

Michal  shuddered.  She  felt  herself  in  the  grip  of  a 
vise.  She  could  only  tear  herself  away  by  force.  Fem- 
inine cunning  suggested  an  idea,  and  rage  and  pride 
matured  it  into  a  regular  plan.  She  would  pretend  to 
lend  an  ear  to  the  evil  counsels  of  her  seducer.  She 
would  ostensibly  consent  to  the  disgraceful  offer,  lure 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  265 

^urdoki  to  her,  and  when  quite  sure  of   him,  would  tell 
her  husband  everything. 

A  man  like  Valentine  would  most  certainly  kill  both 
the  seducer  and  his  go-between,  and  such  a  homicide  is 
justified  by  the  laws  and  customs  of  every  nation. 

Then  she  meditated  killing  by  the  hand  of  her  husband 
the  one  being  in  the  world  who  was  in  possession  of  her 
secret.  She  had  reason  enough  for  hating  with  a  deadly 
hatred  the  witch  who  came  to  her  with  such  a  dastardly 
proposal,  and  whose  devilish  intention  it  was  to  hand  her 
innocent  soul  over  to  perdition  ;  but  at  the  bottom  of 
this  murderous  idea  was  the  constant  thought  that,  when 
once  Barbara  was  out  of  the  way,  her  secret  would  be 
secure.     So  she  whispered  gently  to  Barbara  : 

"I'm  only  afraid  someone  will  find  me  out." 

Barbara's  eyes  flashed  and  sparkled  like  those  of  a 
wolf  pouncing  on  his  prey.  She  fancied  the  little  bird 
was  caught  already. 

"Leave  it  all  to  me,"  she  replied,  also  in  a  whisper, 
"  no  true  woman  ever  lets  herself  be  caught.  One  who 
really  knows  what's  what  can  even  manage  to  be  in  two 
places  at  the  same  time.  You  know  how  to  treat  your 
husband  so  that  he  sees  least  when  he's  most  on  the  alert. 
Only  rely  upon  me.  Has  anyone  ever  suspected  our 
former  secret  ?  Very  well,  then  !  It  will  be  the  same 
with  this  one  also.  No  headsman  can  tear  from  me  with 
red-hot  pincers  what  I  know  about  you,  and  no  stately 
youth  can  wheedle  it  out  of  me  with  fond  caresses  ;  but 
a  single  shifty  look  from  you  may  make  me  blab." 

And  Michal  so  far  overcame  her  heartfelt  horror  of 
the  evil  witch  as  to  press  her  hand  and  promise  that  they 
two  would  hold  together  as  heretofore.  Then  she  told 
her  to  be  at  the  same  place  on  the  morrow,  at  the  same 
time. 


266  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

"  And  when  the  proper  time  comes,"  she  added,  con- 
fidentially, "  you  must  once  more  practice  enchantments 
with  the  pan  of  water  on  the  fire,  and  the  buck-goat  will 
bring  me  the  enamored  swain." 

Michal  was  well  aware  that  it  was  no  buck-goat,  but 
his  own  legs,  that  had  brought  Valentine  to  her  on  that 
occasion  ;  but  she  wanted  to  flatter  the  witch,  who  was 
much  gratified  by  the  allusion.  She  winked  roguishly, 
patted  Michal's  cheeks  once  more,  and  after  promising 
to  come  on  the  morrow,  whisked  out  of  the  door  as 
stealthily  as  she  had  come. 

But  Michal  went  up  into  her  own  room,  threw  herself  on 
the  bed,  and  wept  bitterly.  And  when,  a  little  time  after- 
ward. Dame  Sarah  asked  her  how  it  was  that  her  eyes 
were  so  red,  she  pretended  she  had  been  working  too 
long  at  a  piece  of  fine  white  embroidery.  Dame  Sarah 
thereupon  locked  up  every  piece  of  white  embroidery  in 
her  wardrobe,  so  that  Michal  might  not  ruin  her  eyes. 
When,  however,  her  husband  came  home  and  asked 
whether  Barbara  had  been  there  yet,  she  pretended  that 
the  woman  had  not  appeared  that  day  also. 

Next  day  the  witch  came  again  after  it  had  struck  two 
o'clock,  locked  herself  up  with  Michal  in  the  butcher's 
shop,  and  had  a  whole  hour's  conversation  with  her. 

And  when  Red  Barbara  had  gone  away,  pretty  Michal 
again  went  up  into  her  bedroom,  and  wept  till  her  mother- 
in-law  awoke  from  her  afternoon  nap.  And  when  Dame 
Sarah  again  asked  her  why  her  eyes  were  so  red,  she 
pretended  that  the  scent  of  the  sweet  basil  plant  in  her 
room  was  too  strong,  and  had  given  her  a  headache. 

Dame  Sarah  immediately  had  all  the  flowers  which 
stood  in  glazed  jars  on  Michal's  window-sill  removed 
elsewhere. 

And  this    evening  also   pretty   Michal  deceived    her 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  267 

husband  by  assuring  him  that  Red  Barbara  had  neve- 
been  there. 

The  following  day  was  Sunday.  Pretty  Michal  declared 
she  did  not  feel  well  and  could  not  go  to  church.  This 
time  Dame  Sarah  and  Valentine  went  to  the  house  of 
God  without  her.  During  their  absence  Red  Barbar;;. 
again  visited  Michal,  and  the  young  woman  dismissed 
the  witch  with  the  assurance  that  she  was  quite  ready  to 
receive  the  gracious  gentleman  if  he  would  only  come, 
whereupon  Red  Barbara  promised  to  hasten  on  her 
hobby-horse  (a  broomstick,  no  doubt !)  to  Saros,  and 
Michal  might  expect  her  return  any  day. 

When  Michal  heard  that  the  witch  was  about  to  depart, 
she  felt  much  relieved.  That  day  she  told  her  husband 
that  Red  Barbara  had  been  there,  and  had  departed  sat- 
isfied. The  same  afternoon  Valentine  had  it  publicly 
proclaimed,  that  all  foreign  vagrants  must  quit  the  town 
by  the  following  morning,  or  in  default  thereof  be  whipped 
with  rods. 

And  now  nothing  was  heard  of  the  evil  witch  for  some 
time  to  come. 

But  the  roses  did  not  come  back  to  pretty  Michal's 
cheeks,  nor  did  the  wrinkles  vanish  from  Valentine's 
brow.  Dame  Sarah  observed  them  both  with  anxious 
curiosity.  Something  dreadful  was  going  on,  of  that 
she  felt  quite  certain,  especially  as  pretty  Michal  had 
now  altogether  left  off  going  to  church. 

This  much  indeed  Dame  Sarah  knew  for  certain.  On 
the  day  of  the  election  of  the  sheriff,  just  before  her 
daughter-in-law  had  swooned  away,  a  strange  beggar- 
woman  with  a  red  cloth  round  her  head  had  been  seen 
to  approach  her,  and  now  sundry  friends  and  acquaintances 
told  her  that  at  the  very  time  when  she  was  wont  to  enjoy 
her  afternoon  nap,  this  same  beggar-woman  had  been 


268  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

seen  to  step  into  the  shop,  and  not  come  out  again  for 
some  considerable  time. 

"  My  daughter-in-law  is  bewitched,"  said  she  to  her- 
self, "  and  no  other  than  that  evil  witch  has  done  it." 

And  pretty  Michal  pined  and  fell  off  from  day  to  day, 
and  no  one  knew  what  was  the  matter  with  her. 

Meanwhile  political  events  were  ripening  toward  a 
catastrophe.  Neither  the  remonstrances  of  his  own  sub- 
jects nor  the  prohibition  of  the  Sultan  could  deter  George 
Rakoczy.  He  collected  a  host  and,  uniting  with  the 
Cossacks  and  the  Wallacks,  went  out  against  Poland. 
To  win  over  the  Emperor  Ferdinand,  however,  he  trans- 
ferred to  him  the  whole  of  that  part  of  the  land  which 
lay  along  the  banks  of  the  Theiss  ;  though,  to  be  sure, 
this  liberality  was  not  of  the  slightest  use  to  him.  The 
Kaiser  took,  indeed,  the  counties  offered  to  him,  but 
declared  at  the  same  time  that  he  did  not  approve  of 
Rakoczy's  attack  on  Poland,  and,  if  necessary,  would 
drive  him  out  from  thence  by  force  of  arms. 

In  consequence  of  these  events,  the  town  of  Kassa 
had  to  send  a  deputation  to  Pressburg  to  negotiate  with 
the  delegates  of  the  Emperor  and  the  Palatine  as  to  the 
maintenance  of  the  privileges  of  the  town  and  the 
confirmation  of  its  religious  liberties,  and  the  sheriff, 
Valentine  Kalondai,  was  chosen  the  spokesman  of  this 
deputation. 

This  mission  took  him  away  from  home  for  some 
time,  and  there  was  very  much  weeping  and  sobbing  on 
pretty  Michal's  part  when  he  departed.  Valentine 
would  have  liked  to  have  taken  her  with  him  to  Press- 
burg, but  it  was  scarcely  prudent  to  venture  upon  so 
long  a  journey  at  winter-time  with  such  an  invalid.  On 
his  departure,  however,  he   was  very   urgent  with    his 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  269 

mother  to  guard  his  beloved  Michal  as  the  very  apple  of 
her  eye  ;  but,  indeed,  all  such  exhortations  were  quite 
superfluous,  for  good  Dame  Sarah  dearly  loved  her 
daughter-in-law,  and  was  constantly  racking  her  brains 
as  to  what  had  made  her  so  very  sad  all  at  once.  Im- 
mediately after  Valentine's  departure  there  was  a  great 
fall  of  snow,  and  Dame  Sarah  persuaded  her  daughter- 
in-law  to  take  a  sledge  drive  into  the  town  to  see  the 
carnival  revels.  The  fresh  air  might  do  her  good, 
and  the  bracing  cold  would  perhaps  bring  back  the 
roses  to  her  cheeks. 

Michal  herself  was  very  fond  of  sledging.  She  there- 
fore let  them  bring  her  her  furred  pelisse,  and  harness 
the  horses  to  the  jingling  sledge.  Behind  her  on  the 
box-seat  sat  the  faithful  AH,  loudly  cracking  his  long 
whip. 

Just  as  they  were  turning  round  the  corner  of  the 
church  into  the  public  square,  a  swarm  of  frisky  mas- 
queraders  began  to  pelt  the  sledge  with  snow.  One  of 
the  snowballs  fell  right  into  Michal's  lap,  and  as  she 
shook  it  off  her  pelisse,  there  fell  at  her  feet  from  the 
crumbling  snow,  a  little  crumpled  piece  of  paper. 

She  picked  it  up  and  saw  that  something  was  written 
on  it. 

"At  two  o'clock  this  afternoon  I  shall  be  there  !" 
So  she  has  come  back.     She  has  dared  to  creep  back 
into  the  town,  despite  the   prohibition.     She  has  been 
watching  for  the  time  when  the  husband  would  not  be 
at  home  ! 

When  pretty  Michal  got  home  again  her  face  was 
paler  than  ever.  All  her  limbs  were  as  cold  as  ice. 
Perhaps  she  would  even  have  been  taken  ill  had  not 
Dame  Sarah,  there  and  then,  insisted  upon  her  swallow- 
ing a  hot  wine-and-nutmeg  posset.     She  rallied  all  her 


2  70  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

Strength,  however,  so  as  to  be  able  to  go  and  meet  the 
evil  witch  when  she  came.  She  was  in  her  power,  she 
must  obey  her  in  all  things,  she  must  go  wherever  she 
bade  her. 

Even  her  indignation  was  paralyzed  by  the  circum- 
stance that  Valentine  was  now  far  away  from  her.  The 
trap  had  been  laid,  the  sword  sharpened  ;  but  who 
was  to  kill  the  evil  being  that  had  fallen  into  the 
snare  ? 

As  soon  as  dinner  was  over  and  Dame  Sarah  asleep, 
she  slipped  unobserved  down  into  the  usual  trysting- 
place.  The  shop  had  a  double  door  in  the  gateway. 
When  Michal  had  opened  the  outer  door,  she  thought 
to  herself  how  strange  it  would  be  if  the  witch  were 
already  standing  between  the  two  doors. 

And  there,  indeed,  the  witch  really  was,  so  that 
Michal  did  not  even  scream  out  when  she  saw  her. 

Witches  can  get  into  any  room  through  a  keyhole — es- 
pecially if  they  have  the  assistance  of  a  skeleton  key. 

"  Alas,  alas !  my  little  poppet,  how  pale  you  have 
grown,"  whimpered  Barbara,  when  she  saw  Michal, 
"  You  must  get  back  your  rosy  color  somehow,  or  else 
there's  an  end  to  all  your  glory.  In  this  moldy  city 
even  you 'are  catching  the  Kassa  color,  and  it  is,  there- 
fore, high  time  that  you  left  it." 

"  But  how  dare  you  come  into  the  town  again  ? "  said 
Michal,  "  when  you  know  very  well  how  strictly  it  is 
forbidden  for  all  such — such " 

"  Don't  pick  your  words,  sweetheart !  Call  a  spade 
a  spade !  You  mean  to  say,  such  a  vagabond  brood  of 
witches,  who  are  beaten  with  rods  whenever  they  are 
caught.  I  know  it.  But  the  devil  does  not  forsakt.  his 
daughters.  The  witch  has  sense  enough,  when  she 
enters  Kassa  by  the  Eperies  gate,  to  come,  not  with  her 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  271 

crutch  in  her  hand  and  her  bundle  on  her  back,  but  in  a 
jnigling  sledge,  drawn  by  three  horses ;  and  when  I 
throw  aside  this  ragged  mantle,  I  also  am  a  person  of 
honor." 

Red  Barbara  let  the  mantle  fall  from  her  shoulder, 
and  took  the  red  cloth  from  her  head,  and  Michal 
fancied  she  saw  upon  the  witch  the  same  purple  mantle 
which  had  once  belonged  to  her,  and  of  which  Valen- 
tine had  said  that  it  made  her  look  like  a  queen.  But 
the  satin  robe  was  somewhat  stained  and  shabby,  and 
Red  Barbara  looked  more  like  a  witch  in  it  than  ever. 
Nothing  is  so  disgusting  as  when  such  shameless  old 
women  trick  themselves  out  in  gay  apparel. 

"  Have  no  concern  on  my  account !  I  also  have 
come  hither  in  a  sledge.  I  have  left  it  standing  at  the 
corner,  and  have  thrown  these  rags  over  me.  There  is 
a  thick  mist.     No  one  has  seen  me." 

"  What  do  you  want  of  me  ?  "  asked  Michal  trem- 
bling. 

"  First  of  all  that  you  will  sit  down  on  this  little 
chair." 

"  Why  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  bear  to  see  you  so  pale," 

"And  what  then?" 

"  I  have  a  nice  remedy  against  all  such  pale  faces. 
If  I  rub  your  cheeks  a  little  with  it,  they  will  bloom 
like  roses." 

"What?  You  would  rouge  my  face,"  cried  Michal, 
with  a  shudder,  retreating  into  the  furthest  corner  of 
the  shop,  and  holding  her  hands  before  her  face. 

"  Don't  be  so  scared  !  This  remedy  only  lends  a  red 
color  to  a  pale  cheek.  Who's  the  worse  for  that  ? 
Come  here,  I  say,  \\iien  I  call  you  !  Have  I  not  anointed 
your  face  once   before.     Then,  indeed,  I   covered   you 

13 


2  72  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

with  ugly  freckles.  That  pleased  the  lover  you  had 
then.     The  lover  you  have  now  likes  it  otherwise." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  " 

"  Oh,  oh  !  You  want  to  know  everything  beforehand, 
do  you  ?  Won't  you  trust  me  till  I  have  told  you  every- 
thing from  beginning  to  end  ?  Very  well,  then,  I'll  tell 
you.  The  fool  who  adores  you,  the  great,  rich  lord, 
awaits  you  near  to  the  town,  in  the  Eperies  tavern.  He 
has  harnessed  five  fleet  horses  to  his  sledge.  My 
sledge  will  carry  you  to  him." 

"  Me  ?  " 

*'  Don't  be  afraid.  You  won't  catch  cold.  I've 
brought  a  fur  mantle  with  me." 

"  I  am  to  fly  from  here  !  " 

"You  can  do  it  now.     Your  husband  is  not  at  home." 

"  By  the  mercy  of  God,  I  implore  you  to  depart  from 
me." 

"  Name  not  that  potentate,  for  by  so  doing  you  only 
offend  the  devil,  whose  friendship  we  have  now  much 
need  of.  We  have  not  much  time  to  lose.  The  great 
lord  must  travel  to  Poland  the  day  after  to-morrow  to 
the  Prince  ;  he  will  take  you  with  him  wherever  he  goes, 
to  Cracow,  to  Warsaw.  He  will  make  a  noble  lady  of 
you,  and  when  you  have  had  enough  of  him  you  can 
come  back  to  your  present  husband.  You  can  make  him 
believe  that  you  went  away  to  see  your  father  the  Kesz- 
mar  professor." 

"  Depart  from  me,  Satan  !  "  cried  Michal,  violently  re- 
moving the  witch's  arms  from  her  body. 

"  That's  right !  cry  aloud  !  Make  a  noise  that  the  ser- 
vants and  neighbors  may  come  running  up.  Let  them 
lock  me  up  and  make  me  confess  all  about  our  acquaint- 
ance. That  will  be  very  pleasant  for  both  of  us,  won't 
it?" 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  273 

**  Have  mercy  upon  me  and  depart  !  *' 

"  I'm  not  such  a  fool  as  that.  You  are  the  little  goose 
that  lays  me  the  golden  eggs." 

"  I'll  give  you  all  my  money,  all  my  jewels,  only  do 
not  ruin  me." 

"  Don't  talk  to  me  of  compassion  and  mercy  !  I  hate 
you.  In  the  first  place,  I  can't  endure  that  a  person  I 
can  make  just  like  myself  should  be  a  pious,  church-going, 
happy  woman.  In  the  second  place,  I've  given  my  word 
to  bring  you  with  me.  My  reputation  as  a  witch  is  at 
stake.  And,  finally,  I'm  furious  with  you  because  you 
tried  to  deceive  me.  You  lied  to  me.  You  told  me  you 
lived  in  one  place,  when  you  lived  in  another,  so  that  I 
might  not  find  you.  Instead  of  honoring  and  support- 
ing me  as  your  adopted  mother,  you  paid  me  off  once  for 
all  with  a  beggarly  pittance  that  only  made  my  mouth 
water  for  more.  Now  I  don't  mean  to  let  you  escape 
from  my  clutches  again.  When  once  you  have  given 
yourself  up  to  me,  you  are  mine  forever,  and  if  you  are 
mine  you  are  the  devil's.     Come  along  with  me  !  " 

A  mist  swam  before  Michal's  eyes,  her  feet  tottered 
her  whole  body  was  palsied.     She  could   not  speak,  she 
only  staggered,  and   sought  with  her  hands  for  a  sup- 
port to  keep  her  from  falling. 

"  If  you  faint,"  whispered  Barbara,  "  it  will  be  all  the 
worse  for  you,  for  then  I  shall  take  you  in  my  arms  and 
carry  you  off.  The  sledge  is  close  at  hand,  the  mist  is 
thick,  and  the  snow  is  falling.  No  one  will  ever  find  out 
whither  you  have  vanished." 

Michal  shuddered  all  over,  and  fell  her  full  length 
upon  the  floor. 

Good  Dame  Sarah  did  not  take  her  usual  afternoon 
nap  that  day.     On  the  contrary,  she  took  out  her  Bible 


2  74  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

and  read  therefrom  in  a  loud  voice  to  keep  herself 
awake. 

All  at  once  it  occurred  to  her  to  see  what  Michal  was 
about.     She  went  up  to  her  room,  but  she  was  not  there. 

A  side  door  which  led  from  Michal's  door  to  the  base- 
ment stood  open.  The  young  woman  must  consequently 
have  gone  out  through  this  door. 

The  wind  had  blown  the  freshly  fallen  snow  into  the 
corridor,  and  in  this  snow  Dame  Sarah  recognized  the 
impressions  of  Michal's  small,  narrow  boots.  These 
footprints  led  her  right  down  to  the  gate,  and  thence, 
guided  by  the  patches  of  snow  which  Michal  had  shaken 
from  her  feet,  she  arrived  at  the  door  of  the  butcher's 
shop. 

She  crept  toward  it  and  began  to  listen.  Then  she 
suddenly  tore  open  the  door  and  rushed  in. 

Red  Barbara  was  stooping  over  the  form  of  the  sense- 
less woman,  and  grasping  her  round  the  body  in  order 
to  raise  her  up  and  carry  her  awa}'. 

"  So  I've  caught  you  at  last,  eh  !  you  horrible,  godless 
witch  !  " 

The  hag,  taken  quite  by  surprise,  uttered  a  hoarse  shriek, 
like  a  vulture  startled  from  her  prey  and,  springing  up 
from  Michal's  side,  extended  her  crooked  fingers  like  the 
talons  of  a  bird  of  prey,  and  raised  them  aloft  to  strike. 
But  her  claws  would  have  been  of  little  use  to  her,  even  if 
she  had  borrowed  them  from  her  patron  Beelzebub  him- 
self, against  the  attack  which  Dame  Sarah  in  her  rage 
and  fury  now  made  upon  her. 

That  lady's  iron  hand  seized  the  witch  with  irresistible 
might.  In  vain  she  twisted  and  wriggled.  Dame  Sarah 
bent  the  witch's  body  back  over  the  chopping-board.. 

"  Let  me  go,  woman  !  "  yelled  Barbara,  with  bloody, 
foaming  lips.     "  Don't  hold  me  like  that  or  you'll  rue  it  ! 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  275 

I  can  bite,  and  my  bite  is  worse  than  that  of  a  mad  dog. 
I'll  drag  you  down  to  hell  with  me  if  you  don't  let  me 
go." 

*'  You'd  bite  me,  you  b — ,  would  you  ?  "  cried  Dame 
Sarah,  with  grim  fury  ;  "then  bite  yourself!"  and  with 
that,  thrusting  one  of  Barbara's  arms  against  Barbara's 
own  mouth,  she  forced  the  witch's  clenched  fist  in  be- 
tween her  wide  open  jaws.     "  Bite  away,  and  choke  !  " 

The  face  of  the  witch  was  already  livid,  her  eyes  were 
starting  out  of  their  sockets,  she  was  very  near  being 
choked  with  her  own  fist.  And  Dame  Sarah  would  cer- 
tainly have  bestowed  a  great  benefit  upon  her  own  family, 
and  all  the  powers  in  heaven  and  earth  would  certainly 
have  forgiven  her,  if  she  had  not  loosed  her  hold  upon 
the  evil  creature  till  its  pestilential  soul  had  gone  to  hell. 

But  it  was  otherwise  decreed  in  the  great  book  of  pre- 
destination. 

The  uproar  made  by  the  two  struggling  women  drew 
the  whole  household  to  the  spot.  The  servants  hastened 
promptly  to  the  assistance  of  their  mistress,  and  after  tear- 
ing a  considerable  quantity  of  hair  out  of  Red  Barbara's 
head,  they  tied  her  hands  behind  her  and,  as  she  would 
not  go  willingly,  they  dragged  her  through  the  snow  to 
the  lockup.  All  the  way  thither  the  witch  never  ceased 
shouting  :  "  For  this  I'll  revenge  myself  on  your  whole 
house." 

Michal  knew  nothing  of  all  this,  for  she  lay  in  a  swoon. 
It  was  already  late  in  the  evening  when  she  came  to  her- 
self and  gradually  recognized  the  faces  of  those  who 
stood  round  her. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

Which  shows  what  a  good  thing  it  is  when  "publica  privatis  prsece- 
dunt,"  or,  in  other  words,  when  public  duties  take  precedence  of 
private  affairs. 

As  the  time  approached  when  the  return  of  Valentine 
Kalondai  with  the  deputation  from  Pressburg  might  be 
reasonably  expected,  Simplex  joined  the  town  watchman, 
with  whom  he,  as  trumpeter,  stood  on  terms  of  good  fel- 
lowship, and  watched  with  him  for  the  approach  of  the 
sledges. 

The  carnival  was  now  pretty  far  advanced,  when  a 
postilion  arrived  to  say  that  the  deputation  was  already 
on  its  homeward  way,  and  the  town  was  to  send  four 
fresh  horses  to  meet  it,  so  that  it  might  make  its  solemn 
entry  with  due  dignity;  the  four  nags  which  had  be* 
hired  at  Pressburg  being  by  this  time  splashed  up  to  the 
Vviiy  ears  with  mud. 

As  the  deputies  approached  the  gate,  Simplex  seize»i 
his  trumpet — it  was  the  custom  when  notables  drew  near 
to  play  in  their  honor  a  selection  of  the  choicest  melo- 
dies— and  played  a  tune,  the  text  of  which  begins  with 
these  words: 

Hasten,  little  nag,  gallop  and  fly, 
At  home  thy  mistress  sick  doth  lie. 

He  thought  that  Valentine  would  understand  the  allu- 
sion. 

And  Valentine  did  understand  it,  but  he  would  not 
take  the  hint.  He  told  the  coachman  to  drive  direct  to 
the  townhall. 

S76 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  277 

The  civic  coachman  was  a  very  old  man.  He  had 
many  a  time  driven  Valentine's  father  on  the  business  of 
the  town,  and  was  also  very  much  attached  to  his  son. 

"Mr.  Sheriff,"  he  inquired,  as  they  passed  beneath  the 
portcullis,  "hadn't  we  better  drive  home  first  of  all?" 

"No,  old  fellow!  the  business  of  the  city  comes  first, 
I'll  go  home  afterward." 

As  the  sledge  stopped  before  the  townhall,  where  the 
town-councilors,  apprised  of  the  arrival  of  the  deputies, 
had  already  assembled,  the  first  person  whom  Valentine 
met  on  dismounting  was  Count  Hommonai. 

He  drew  Valentine  aside. 

"Have  you  been  home  yet?"  he  asked. 

"Not  yet,"  replied  the  other,  "'publica  praecedunt  pri- 
vatis.'" 

"Go  home  first." 

"No,  my  lord!  That  I  will  not  do.  Tidings  may 
there  be  awaiting  me  which  will  either  irritate  or  delight 
me,  and  so  either  make  me  too  severe  or  too  soft-hearted. 
The  circumstances  of  the  city  are  at  this  moment  so  very 
serious  that,  till  they  have  been  set  right,  we  must  let 
our  private  affairs  go.  So,  by  your  leave,  the  townhall 
first  and  my  own  house  afterward." 

And  when  Valentine  explained  in  the  council  the  ac- 
tual situation  of  affairs,  everyone  said  that  he  had  acted 
quite  rightly. 

The  Prince  of  Transylvania,  in  order  to  bring  King 
Ferdinand  over  to  his  side,  had  surrendered  to  him  the 
five  counties  on  this  side  of  the  Theiss  which  had  been 
ceded  to  Transylvania  by  the  Peace  of  Linz.  Then, 
shutting  his  ears  against  all  good  advice,  he  had  invaded 
Poland,  and  his  first  attack  was  crowned  with  success, 
for  Cracow  fell  into  his  hands. 

King  Ferdinand  had  accepted  the  portions  of  Transyl- 


278  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

vania  offered  to  him,  but  at  the  same  time  intimated  to 
Prince  George  Rakoczy  that  if  he  did  not  evacuate  Po- 
land at  once,  he,  Ferdinand,  would  be  forced  to  make 
common  cause  with  the  Poles,  and  compel  him  to  do  so 
by  force  of  arms. 

And  now,  too,  the  Sultan  was  very  wroth  with  Prince 
George  Rakozcy  for  beginning  the  war  without  his  con- 
sent, and  also  for  surrendering  portions  of  the  land  to  Fer- 
dinand. When  they  are  wroth  in  Stamboul  it  is  no  joke. 
The  Sultan  declared  that  George  Rakoczy  had  forfeited 
his  throne,  and  issued  an  athname  which  gave  the  scepter 
to  Achatius  Baresai,  at  the  same  time  commanding  the 
Khan  of  the  Grim  Tartars  to  march  into  Transylvania 
and  chastise  his  rebellious  vassal. 

So  the  town  of  Kassa  had  now  to  choose  between  two 
things. 

It  might  quietly  conform  to  the  will  of  Prince  George 
Rakoczy,  and  consent  to  be  transferred  to  Ferdinand  of 
Austria,  the  first  consequence  of  which  would  be  that  the 
troops  of  the  Prince  of  Transylvania  would  quit  the  town 
in  order  to  garrison  the  fortress  of  Onod,  while  a  Walloon 
regiment,  under  the  command  of  General  Loffelholz, 
would  take  their  place;  in  which  case  the  Jesuits  would 
have  their  cloisters  restored  to  them,  and  would  reenter 
the  town  behind  the  Walloons. 

That  would  be  a  bitter  morsel  to  swallow. 

The  second  alternative  for  the  town,  in  case  it  disliked 
the  Emperor's  friendship,  was  to  throw  itself  into  the 
arms  of  the  Turks.  The  Sultan  had  deposed  George 
Rakoczy,  and  appointed  Achatius  Baresai  Prince  in  his 
stead.  If  the  town  of  Kassa  chose,  it  could  side  with 
Baresai  and  summon  the  Pasha  of  Eger  to  its  assistance. 

One  of  these  two  courses  had  to  be  adopted. 

Good  advice  was  now  scarce. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  279 

There  lay  the  stone  which  one  fool  had  cast  into  the 
well,  and  one  hundred  wise  men  could  not  pull  it  out. 

The  session  of  the  council,  when  these  things  had  been 
explained  was  extraordinarily  stormy.  Valentine  Ka- 
londai,  who  presided,  was  scarcely  able  to  maintain  order, 
so  heated  were  the  tempers  of  his  colleagues. 

One  of  them  threatened  to  burn  his  house  to  the 
ground  rather  than  permit  German  troops  to  be  quar- 
tered upon  him,  while  another  protested  that  he  would 
rather  massacre  his  own  wife  and  children  than  allow  the 
Turkish  janissaries  to  perpetrate  their  atrocities  upon 
them;  and  while  some  exhausted  the  whole  vocabulary 
of  abuse  against  the  unbelieving  heathen,  others  excelled 
themselves  in  blackening  the  Jesuits.  Thus  there  arose 
two  fiercely  antagonistic  parties,  neither  of  which  would 
give  way  a  hair's  breadth  to  the  other. 

The  president  alone  was  silent. 

At  last  the  superrector  turned  to  him  and  asked  him 
for  his  opinion. 

"Well,  if  you  want  to  know  what  I  think,"  began  Ka- 
londai,  "let  me  tell  you  that  I  do  not  agree  with  either 
opinion.  Judging  the  case  on  its  merits,  I  think  the 
Theiss  counties  ought  not  to  have  been  ceded  to  Ferdi- 
nand till  he  had  fulfilled  his  obligation  of  assisting  George 
Rakoczy  against  Poland,  which  he  has  not  done.  But 
on  the  other  hand,  neither  has  the  Sultan  any  right  to 
dispose  of  the  free  city  of  Kassa;  such  right  belongs  to 
the  Estates  of  the  Realm  alone.  So  again,  Rakoczy  can 
only  be  deposed  by  the  Estates  of  Transylvania,  and  if 
they  wish  Baresai  for  their  Prince  they  alone  can  elect 
him.  My  opinion,  therefore,  is  that  neither  Walloon 
horsemen  nor  Turkish  Spa/iis  be  allowed  to  enter  here, 
but  we  must  close  the  city  gates,  and,  if  need  be,  opposo 
force  to  force  as  our  fathers  have  done.     If  the  council 


28o  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

wish  it  so,  I'll  stake  my  head  upon  the  issue,  and  God 
shall  judge  betwixt  us." 

But  Mr.  Zwirina  was  by  no  means  enamored  of  so  ad- 
venturous a  policy,  and  he  so  dexterously  strung  together 
the  evil  consequences  which  would  accrue  to  the  town 
from  such  obstinacy — to  wit,  bombardments  with  red-hot 
bullets,  loss  of  life,  famine,  plague,  conflagrations,  bank- 
ruptcy of  the  merchants,  ruin  of  the  guilds,  storms, 
capitulations,  wholesale  blackmailing,  nay,  even  the 
wresting  of  the  churches  from  the  hands  of  the  Protest- 
ants— that  when  it  came  to  voting,  the  majority  of  the 
council  decided  that  the  town  ought  rather  to  conform  to 
the  will  of  the  Prince  by  submitting  to  the  change,  than 
come  to  loggerheads  with  the  Kaiser  and  the  Sultan  at 
the  same  time ;  and  that  the  Walloons  should  be  allowed 
to  enter,  especially  as  they  were,  after  all,  the  soldiers  of 
the  King  of  Hungary. 

No  sooner  had  this  resolution  been  adopted  than  Count 
Hommonai  took  the  golden  key  of  the  town  from  his 
neck  and  threw  it  on  the  table,  saying  that  from  hence- 
forth he  no  longer  regarded  himself  as  commandant,  and 
would  discharge  his  troops  forthwith.  He  would  now, 
he  said,  retire  to  his  estates  to  shoot  stags  and  plant  cab- 
bages. 

"If  you  go,  I  go  too,"  said  Valentine  Kalondai.  "I 
also  lay  down  the  sheriff's  staff  on  the  table;  let  a  better 
man  bear  it!" 

And  so  saying,  he  placed  the  gold-headed  Spanish  cane 
on  the  table,  and  rose  from  his  seat.  It  must  certainly 
have  been  his  guardian  angel  that  gave  him  the  idea  of 
resignation  at  that  moment,  for  he  thereby  averted  the 
point  of  the  sword  that  was  actually  suspended  over  his 
head. 

But  now  he  was  suddenly  assailed  on  all  sides.      His 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  281 

friends,  his  enemies  also  (especially  the  latter),  begged 
and  prayed  him  to  remain.  Most  earnestly  of  all  Mr. 
Zwirina  implored  him  not  to  forsake  the  town  at  such  a 
crisis.  Was  he  not  so  very  much  wiser  than  they  all? 
Without  him  the  concord  of  the  town  would  become 
sheer  anarchy;  it  was  just  at  such  times  as  these  that 
they  needed  a  strong  hand  like  his  to  guide  them,  for 
where  could  they  find  such  another?  At  last  they  at- 
tacked him  on  his  weak  point.  It  was  cowardice,  they 
said,  to  hide  his  head  just  as  danger  was  approaching. 
They  pestered  him  so  long  that  at  last  the  voice  of  ambiv 
tion  drowned  the  suggestion  of  his  good  angel;  but  it  ia 
only  fair  to  say  that  his  love  for  his  native  place,  and  his 
sense  of  duty,  also,  contributed  not  a  little  thereto.  He 
allowed  them  to  lead  him  back  to  his  place,  for  which 
complacency  he  received  a  loud  vivat.  They  even 
wished  to  lift  him  up  in  the  air,  chair  and  all,  as  upon 
the  occasion  of  his  election,  but  he  motioned  to  them  not 
to  do  so. 

Then  Count  Hommonai  withdrew  from  the  counciL 
chamber;  he  had  no  longer  any  business  there. 

Valentine  Kalondai  declared,  however,  that  he  would 
only  hold  office  till  the  new  order  of  things  had  been 
established ;  then  they  must  elect  them  a  new  sheriff  in 
his  place. 

After  this  weighty  matter  had  thus  been  satisfactorily 
settled,  the  recorder  and  the  fiscal  procurator  brought  in 
sundry  official  documents,  which  only  needed  the  signa- 
ture of  the  sheriff,  the  council  having  already  passed 
them ;  they  were  urgent  criminal  cases,  in  which  every 
delay  would  be  cruel.  In  all  penal  matters  a  swift 
execution  is  merciful.  Not  till  all  this  business  had 
been  disposed  of  could  Valentine  quit  the  council- 
chamber. 


282  .  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

The  first  document  presented  for  his  signature  was  a 
death-warrant. 

It  was  the  first  sentence  of  death  he  had  ever  signed; 
his  heart  beat  violently. 

To  kill  a  man  in  the  battlefield,  in  the  heat  of  the 
combat ;  to  manfully  grapple  with  a  man  who  is  already 
mowing  his  way  through  the  ranks,  sword  in  hand,  first 
bidding  him  defend  himself  or  surrender;  to  cut  down 
with  a  strong  hand  and  dash  to  pieces  a  man  who  breaks 
into  the  land  as  an  enemy,  and  ravages  it  like  a  wild 
beast— all  that  he  had  often  and  cheerfully  done,  as  be- 
came a  soldier.  But  to  sit  in  a  soft  armchair  and  kill  a 
man  in  cold  blood,  a  man  in  fetters  who  cannot  fly,  who 
cannot  defend  himself;  a  man  of  the  same  town  as  your- 
self, a  fellow-citizen,  perhaps  an  acquaintance,  who,  pale 
with  mortal  agony,  begs  you  for  mercy;  to  kill  such  a 
man  by  breaking  the  staff  of  office  over  him— in  such  a 
thing  as  that  he  was  quite  a  novice. 

He  asked  what  crime  this  man  had  committed. 
"He  has  killed  his  wife." 
A  terrible  crime! 

"He  killed  his  wife,  and  she,  too,  big  with  child."  _ 
A  horrible,  unnatural  crime.     Such   a  wound  as  mat'" 
none  but  the  headsman  can  heal. 

The  headsman !  He  had  not  thought  of  that  on  the 
day  of  his  triumph,  when  he  had  visited  every  church, 
and  prayed  before  every  altar,  "God  preserve  this  noble 
city  from  the  misfortune  of  requiring  the  headsman  to 
come  hither  to  execute  justice  before  the  year  is  out!" 

That  will,  indeed,  be  a  painful  meeting  when  Valentine 
Kalondai  and  Henry  Catsrider  meet  each  other  in  the 
narrow  path  leading  to  the  scaffold,  the  one  as  the  judge 
of  wretched  criminals,  the  other  as  the  torturer,  the  exe- 
cutioner of  the  condmned  felons ! 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  283 

How  will  he  be  able  to  look  that  man  in  the  face? 

He  would  not  submit  to  the  inevitable.  He  requested 
that  the  charge  brought  against  the  accused  should  be 
laid  before  him.  A  sheriff  cannot  sign  a  death-warrant 
before  he  has  heard  the  defense  of  the  accused. 

The  conrector,  acting  as  secretary,  then  recited  to  him 
both  the  accusation  and  the  defense.  A  militiaman — 
Valentine  knew  him  very  well,  for  he  was  a  butcher's 
apprentice — came  home  drunk  one  night  from  patrolling. 
His  wife  began  scolding  him,  and  he  furiously  drew  his 
sword  and  aimed  a  blow  at  her.  He  only  meant  to  hit 
her  with  the  flat  of  the  blade,  but  the  devil  jogged  his 
hand,  and  the  point  went  right  through  her  heart.  She 
died.  The  murderer  gave  himself  up  immediately  the 
deed  was  done.  He  repented  of  his  crime,  and  himself 
demanded  death  as  his  punishment. 

"Then  he  did  this  dreadful  deed  when  he  was  in 
liquor  and  is  now  sorry  for  it?"  said  Valentine,  by  way 
of  extenuation. 

"Yes,  and  that  is  certainly  a  reason  for  mitigating  the 
punishment,"  replied  the  superrector.  "Just  for  that 
very  reason  he  has  only  been  condemned  to  be  beheaded, 
otherwise  he  would  have  been  quartered  alive  for  his 
bloody  deed." 

"Has  he  any  children?"  asked  the  sheriff. 

"Seven,"  replied  the  conrector. 

"He  leaves  behind  him  seven  orphans,"  sighed  Val- 
entine, "seven  innocent  orphans,  who  will  be  forever 
branded  as  the  children  of  the  man  who  died  beneath  the 
hand  of  the  headsman!" 

"So  it  is!"  answered  the  cold  and  grim  superrector; 
"seven  will  be  branded  with  infamy  for  the  crime  of  one. 
But  if  we  were  to  pardon  him,  all  the  inhabitants  of 
Kassa  would  be  branded  for  all  time." 


284  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

"I  don't  ask  you  to  pardon  him.  Lifelong  imprison- 
ment in  the  treadmill  of  the  civic  reservoir,  with  the  sting 
of  conscience  in  his  heart,  would  be  a  still  greater  punish- 
ment for  him  than  death." 

"Pray  don't  let  us  have  any  mawkish  sentiment,  good 
Master  Sheriff!  If  we  don't  kill,  people  will  kill  us.  If 
we  pardon  the  evil-doers  we  shall  leave  the  good  defense- 
less. This  hard-mouthed  people  requires  an  example 
which  shall  strike  its  eyes  and  so  frighten  it.  If  we  par- 
don one  malefactor,  a  hundred  others  will  spring  up.  It 
is  a  sad  duty,  no  doubt,  but  it  is  a  duty  none  the  less, 
and  must  be  done." 

The  cold  sweat  started  out  on  Valentine's  forehead 
like  the  morning  dew  on  a  flower-bed,  as  he  dipped  the 
pen  into  the  inkhorn,  and  his  large  powerful  hand 
trembled  so  much  as  he  wrote  his  name  under  the  war- 
rant that  his  signature,  ordinarily  so  bold  and  energetic, 
was  now  scarcely  legible. 

"Are  there  any  more  arrears?" 

"One  more  sentence,  only  one,  a  'harum  palczarum.'  " 

We  must  linger  a  little  on  these  words  in  order  to  find 
out  what  they  mean.  Both  of  the  German  chroniclers 
whom  we  here  follow  write  "harum  pallizarum,"  possi- 
bly a  corrupt  contraction  with  Latin  terminations  of  the 
Hungarian  expression  "hdrom  palczara, '  /.  e.,  "with 
three  staves."  But  what  is  the  meaning  of  the  expres- 
sion? In  the  annals  of  the  Debreczin  town  council  we 
find  this  peculiar  punishment  (reserved  for  witches  found 
guilty  of  pimping  and  seduction)  very  plainly  described. 
The  Debreczin  chronicle  says,  "let  them  be  crowned 
with  three  staves!"  The  German  chronicler  adds  it  was 
very  seldom  that  anyone  survived  this  punishment. 
The  head  of  the  condemned  was  pressed  between  three 
staves,  and  then  the  executioner  slowly  screwed  them  to- 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  285 

gether,  thereby  causing  the  felons  truly  infernal  tor- 
ments. Very  often  they  swooned  away,  and  then  they 
were  beaten  with  bunches  of  thorn  till  they  came  to 
again. 

This  was  the  horrible  sentence  which  Valentine  Ka- 
londai  had  now  to  sign. 

When  he  read  the  name  of  the  condemned,  he  fancied 
the  whole  house  was  sinking  with  him. 

"Red  Barbara!" 

Sparks  and  rings  of  fire  danced  before  his  eyes. 

That  she  should  have  fallen  into  his  hands! 

"Examine  the  documents.  Master  Sheriff;  the  case 
will  interest  you!"  said  the  conrector. 

Valentine  Kalondai  read. 

It  was  indeed  a  hellish  message  which  tliese  documents 
conveyed. 

The  confessions  of  the  imprisoned  witch,  the  charge 
brought  by  Valentine's  mother,  the  testimony  of  acquaint- 
ances and  friends  all  showed  that  a  detestable  plot  had 
been  forged  against  his  happiness  and  honor.  The  ac- 
cused denied  nothing.  She  confessed  everything  at 
the  very  first  examination.  The  great  and  mighty  Mr. 
Zurdoki  had  sent  her  to  corrupt  the  wife  of  Valentine 
Kalondai.  She  had  intended,  by  fair  means  or  foul,  to 
have  carried  Michal  off  and  made  her  Zurdoki's  mistress. 
She  had  been  paid  to  do  so,  and  had  got  everything 
ready  for  carrying  out  this  diabolical  plan. 

But  when  they  had  asked  by  what  means  she  had 
managed  to  approach  the  wife  of  Valentine  Kalondai,  and 
how  she  had  got  her  to  listen  to  her  filthy  insinuations, 
seeing  that  Michal  had  recoiled  from  them  with  horror, 
nay,  at  least,  had  even  fainted  away,  the  accused  had 
simply  replied:  "I  am  a  witch,  I  can  do  everything." 
Nay,  evcu  when  they  applied  the  question  extraordinary, 


286  PRETTY  MICBAL. 

she  stood  them  out  that  she  had  no  other  help  but  her 
own  magic  power.  At  last,  however,  under  the  ex- 
tremest  torture,  she  had  declared  herself  the  mother  of 
Dame  Valentine  Kalondai.  That  was  why  the  latter  had 
allowed  her  free  access  to  her  person.  Nay,  so  far  did 
this  woman's  impudence  go,  that  she  actually  maintained 
that  when  the  sheriff  came  home,  he  would  be  the  first  to 
implore  the  town  council  to  let  the  mother  of  his  wife  go 
free. 

Valentine  felt  as  if  the  whole  world  was  falling  to 
pieces  over  his  head.  And  then  it  was  that  the  maxim 
occurred  to  him,  that  it  was  just  when  the  universe  lies 
in  ruins  around  him  that  a  true  man  raises  his  head  most 
defiantly. 

His  friends  and  foes  at  the  green  table  were  watching 
him  with  curiosity  and  concern  to  see  what  he  would 
do.  Would  he  quail  beneath  the  blow,  and  justify  the 
assertion  of  the  witch  by  imploiing  them  to  do  her  no 
harm? 

Valentine  Kalondai  took  the  pen,  dipped  it  into  the 
inkhorn,  and  wrote,  no  longer  with  a  trembling  hand,  the 
date  and  his  own  name  at  the  bottom  of  the  warrant, 
underlining  the  words  "with  three  slaves"  twice,  and 
taking  good  care  not  to  mistake  the  inkhorn  for  the  sand- 
box when  he  sanded  his  signature. 

And  then,  his  heavy  fist  still  reposing  on  the  bundle  of 
documents,  he  requested  the  conrector  to  fold  together  a 
sheet  of  paper  and,  "fracto  margine, "  to  write,  in  the 
name  of  the  town  council,  a  letter  of  ciJ-ation  to  the 
headsman  of  Zeb,  Henry  Catsrider,  bidding  him,  as  in 
duty  bound,  to  appear  within  eight  days  at  the  city  of 
Kassa,  in  order  to  execute  the  law's  sentences  which  had 
been  passed  that  day,  copies  of  which  were  si^»*  1>*»h. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  287 

He  was  then  t<5  present  his  account  to  the  civic  auditor, 
who  was  authorized  to  discharge  it.  This  citation  Valenr 
tine  also  subscribed. 

He  had  still  a  faint  glimmer  of  hope. 

When  Henry  Catsrider  receives  this  citation  and  learns 
that  he,  the  headsman  of  Zeb,  must  come  face  to  face 
v/ith  Valentine  Kalondai  whom  he  had  formerly  robbed 
of  his  beloved,  he  was  then  a  genius,  a  luminary,  a  cleric 
and  a  scholar,  face  to  face  with  him  who  had  once  been 
an  expelled  convict,  but  now  was  sheriff;  when  he  re- 
flects that  he  who  was  now  a  branded  monster,  an  outcast 
from  every  city,  is  to  appear  before  his  former  rival,  who 
was  now  the  first  magistrate  of  one  of  the  most  important 
cities  of  the  land;  and  when,  besides  all  that,  Henry 
Catsrider  discovers  that  one  of  the  condemned,  on  whom 
a  masterpiece  of  his  hellish  art  was  to  be  performed,  was 
his  father's  former  housekeeper,  who  had  once  actually 
been  his  own  nurse  and  suckled  him,  why,  then,  he  would 
surely  have  human  feeling  enough  to  remain  at  home, 
and,  as  he  was  often  wont  to  do,  send  his  oldest  appren- 
tice to  execute  the  sentence  in  his  stead. 

Valentine  actually  believed  that  there  was  still  some 
human  feeling  left  in  Henry  Catsrider! 

When  all  this  had  been  done  he  arose  from  his  seat  of 
honor. 

The  whole  town  council  bowed  before  him.  The  con- 
rector,  Ignatius  Zwirina  the  younger,  expressed  the  satis- 
faction felt  by  all  the  burgesses  at  having  a  sheriff  whose 
wise  and  firm  administration  would  serve  as  an  example 
to  all  his  successors. 

And  now  Valentine  hastened  home. 

He  asked  no  questions.  He  let  no  one  speak.  He 
stifled  the  words  on  the  lips  of  his  mother  and  his  wife 

19 


288  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

with  kisses.  Then  he  took  his  pretty  Michal  on  his 
knee,  and  whispered  in  her  ear  in  the  tones  of  a  lover  to 
his  lady: 

"Come  what  may  or  must!  Be  it  weal  or  woe,  our 
comfort  is  that  we  shall  share  it  together!" 

And  pretty  Michal  was  content  that  it  should  be  so. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

The  fulfilment  of  the  proverb,  as  you  make  your  bed  so  must  you 
lie  in  it,  comes  to  p^ss. 

Valentine  Kalondai  knew  Henry  Catsrider  ill,  and 
all  his  psychological  calculations  foundered  completely. 

During  the  last  few  years  Henry  Catsrider's  nature  had 
entirely  degenerated. 

When  Valentine  was  his  fellow-student  at  the  college 
of  Keszmar,  Henry  was  a  stuck-up  youth,  proud  of  his 
learning,  who  was  always  boasting  to  his  comrades  of  his 
mental  capacity  and  his  physical  strength  till  he  became 
positively  unendurable.  The  weaker  ones  he  persecuted. 
In  his  wrestling-bouts  with  them  he  shockingly  maltreated 
them,  and  when  they  played  pranks  he  reported  them  to 
the  authorities.  But  the  end  and  aim  of  all  his  brutal 
self-assertion  was  to  become  a  clergyman.  In  this  call- 
ing he  would  also  have  been  sly  and  tyrannous,  always 
looking  after  himself  and  a  scourge  and  a  burden  to 
his  colleagues;  but  his  father  had  violently  torn  him 
away  from  this  path  of  life,  and  forced  him  to  go  back 
to  his  proper  trade.  And  perhaps  the  old  man  was 
right. 

For  this  was,  after  all,  the  trade  for  which  Henry  was 
intended  by  nature,  and  within  a  few  years  he  was  as 
much  at  home  in  it  as  if  he  had  done  nothing  else  all 
his  life.  Coarse  society  soon  brings  down  everyone  who 
mixes  in  it  to  its  own  level.  The  feeling,  too,  that  all 
the  world  despises  him,  arouses  in  a  man  the  defiant  in- 
stinct to  avenge  himself  on  the  whole  world  for  such  con- 

289 


290  PRETTY  MIC  HAL. 

tempt.  Till  then  he  had  led  the  life  of  a  recluse,  but 
now  he  suddenly  plunged  into  a  continual  orgy,  and  hated 
sobriety.  The  ghastly  death  of  his  father  had  filled  him 
with  the  cruelty  of  a  wild  beast,  and  the  destruction  of 
his  house  had  extinguished  in  him  the  last  sparks  of  hu- 
man feeling.  After  the  loss  of  his  wife,  whom  he  had 
loved  passionately,  he  sank  completely  into  the  slough 
of  vileness,  and  sought  the  society  of  those  women  whom 
not  the  altar  but  the  pillory  would  sooner  or  later  unite 
to  him — to-day  a  glowing  kiss,  to-morrow  a  hissing  iron. 
As,  moreover,  he  had  lost  a  large  part  of  his  treasures  in 
the  burning  of  his  house,  he  became  avaricious  likewise. 
He  wanted  to  make  up  again  what  he  had  lost.  Just 
then  they  were  beginning  in  Poland  to  play  at  games  of 
chance  with  the  painted  cards  invented  by  Peter  Gringe- 
noir,  and  Henry  spent  all  his  time  in  the  Polish  cities 
playing  cards  with  the  cheats  and  filchers  of  the  district. 
And  in  these  gambling  dens  he  generally  managed  to  lose 
some  fresh  piece  of  his  silver  plate  which  he  brought  with 
him  in  the  leg  of  his  boot.  Woe  betide  them  who  then 
fell  into  his  hands! 

Once  he  was  warned  by  the  authorities  that  he  would 
be  degraded  and  expelled  from  his  office  if  he  did  not 
attend  to  it  better. 

After  all  this  we  may  readily  suppose  that  Henry  Cats- 
rider,  when  he  received  the  summons  from  the  town 
council  of  Kassa,  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  appear 
personally  in  answer  to  it.  That  this  summons  was 
signed  by  Valentine  Kalondai,  as  sheriff,  did  not  disturb 
him  in  the  least.  On  the  contrary,  the  idea  of  appearing 
before  his  former  rival  as  executioner  rather  tickled  him 
than  otherwise.  That  one  of  the  victims  was  Red  Bar- 
bara afforded  him  the  greatest  satisfaction.  He  sus- 
pected at  once  that  the  witch  had  set  his  house  on  fire  and 


PFETTY  MICH  A  L.  29 1 

Stolen  a  portion  of  his  treasures.  That  she  had  also 
filched  from  him  his  /greatest  treasure  was,  however,  un- 
known to  him  as  yet.  He  would  not  for  any  considera- 
ion  have  relinquished  to  anyone  else  the  bliss  of  torment- 
ing her. 

A  week  after  the  'lispatch  of  the  citation,  the  wagon 
of  the  executioner  of  Zeb  rattled  over  the  stones  of  the 
market-place  of  Kaspa.  It  was  a  black  vehicle,  with  red 
wheels  and  axles,  ori  which  the  somber  company,  like  a 
troupe  of  itinerant  comedians,  brought  with  them  all  the 
requisites  of  their  terrible  stage.  Mounted  drabants  and 
musketeers  escorted  them  before  and  behind. 

The  worshipful  town  council  had  a  very  hard  time 
of  it  that  day.  In  'the  early  morning,  two  squadrons  of 
Walloon  cuirassicJi  had  marched  into  the  town,  blow- 
ing, not  the  Hu3j/jarian  farogato  whose  richly  varying 
melodies  so  muc/j  delighted  the  people,  but  those  shrill 
trumpets  which  ivere  only  invented  for  the  annoyance  of 
mankind.  And  between  the  two  squadrons  of  cavalry, 
sitting  on  mules  and  chanting  discordant  hymns,  the 
Jesuit  fathers  alsf>'  came  back  to  the  town. 

The  colonel  of  (he  foreign  soldiers  and  the  superior  of 
the  Jesuits  hasten<.'d  together  to  the  townhall,  and  a  great 
dispute  arose  between  them  in  the  council-chamber  as 
to  which  of  them  should  have  the  precedence.  General 
LQffelholz  asserted  that,  by  virtue  of  his  rank,  he  was 
entitled  to  settle  nilitary  matters  with  the  magistrates  first 
of  all.  Prior  Hi«ronymus,  on  the  other  hand,  appealed 
to  the  privileges  of  his  order,  which  placed  him  above 
every  temporal  authority. 

Neither  the  r.oldier  nor  the  monk  would  give  way,  and 
the  pair  of  tbem  kept  their  heads  covered,  the  one  with 
his  plumed  hat,  the  other  with  his  hood.  At  that  mo- 
3nent  the  ^,0'und  of  clanking  spurs  was  heard  coming  along 


292  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

the  corridor,  and  now  both  the  contending  parties  gave 
way  before  the  third  comer. 

The  man  who  now  entered  also  wore  a  plumed  biretta 
on  his  head,  but  it  was  scarlet.  His  powerful  body  was 
dressed  in  a  scarlet  coat,  and  over  it  he  wore  a  long  scar- 
let mantle. 

The  clergyman  and  the  soldier  instantly  made  way  for 
him.  They  were  careful  not  to  come  into  contact  with 
so  much  as  the  hem  of  his  garment. 

It  was  the  headsman. 

Henry  Catsrider's  face  had  very  much  altered  since  he 
had  laid  aside  his  priestly  garb.  His  former  long  fair 
hair  was  now  clipped  short,  and  his  beard  flowed  down  in 
two  long  reddish  wisps.  His  face  was  puffy  from  much 
drinking,  and  his  large  eyes,  that  had  once  been  so  spark- 
ling, now  gleamed  out  of  his  coppery,  swollen  counte- 
nance like  smoldering  embers.  His  large,  coarse  mouth 
was  all  awry.  The  humanized  wild  beast  had  relapsed 
again  into  its  original  savagery.  Even  if  he  had  worn  no 
hangman's  weeds,  all  the  world  might  have  read  his  fright- 
ful profession  from  his  face.  As  he  approached,  every- 
one timidly  made  way  for  him. 

And  if  there  was  anyone  who  had  as  much  cause  to 
shudder  at  the  appearance  of  this  shape,  as  if  the  skele- 
ton with  the  scythe  had  suddenly  sprung  up  out  of  the 
ground  before  him,  it  was  certainly  Valentine  Kalondai. 
To  him  this  creature  was  not  only  the  man  of  blood,  but 
the  man  whom  he  had  robbed  of  his  wife. 

Even  at  the  time  when  passion  had  led  him  to  this 
step — a  step  to  which  a  whole  host  of  concurring  circum- 
stances, hot  blood,  and  the  force  of  fate  had  constrained 
him — even  then  he  had  thought  that  he  might  one  day 
fall  in  with  him  whom  he  had  made  a  widower,  but  he 
had  then  said,  "I  will  rather  get  together  a  robber  band 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  293 

than  surrender  my  beloved  to  destruction ! ' '  That  would 
have  been  a  very  different  kind  of  meeting.  A  meeting 
like  this  was  more  than  human  foresight  could  have  fore- 
seen. 

All  eyes  turned  to  him  who  was  the  head  of  the  city, 
the  president  of  the  town  council. 

And  even  at  that  moment  his  strength  of  mind  did  not 
forsake  him.  He  looked  Henry  Catsrider  straight  in  the 
face, as  if  they  had  never  known  each  other,  as  if  he  had 
never  trespassed  against  him. 

The  headsman  planted  himself  in  front  of  the  sheriff 
and  said:   "  'They  have  called  me,  and  I  have  come!'  " 

Valentine,  with  perfect  sangfroid^  completed  the  quo- 
tation : 

"  'I  have  sprung  from  the  dust  of  an  accursed 
earth.'" 

This  distich,  it  is  said,  was  written  in  Chaldaic  charac- 
ters on  the  wings  of  those  locusts  which  first  appeared  at 
the  call  of  Moses,  and  always  reappear  when  the  Lord 
would  abase  the  pride  of  man. 

Everyone  knew  this  saying.  The  words  of  the  sheriff, 
therefore,  called  forth  a  slight  smile  on  every  face,  and 
a  murmur  of  merriment  ran  through  the  room  because  he 
had  so  dexterously  turned  the  tables  on  the  coarse 
intruder. 

Still  more  satisfied  with  his  wisdom  were  they  when  he 
pronounced  judgment  in  the  precedence  dispulc.  "The 
Church  first,  then  the  temporal  power,  last  of  all  the 
headsman." 

But  the  Walloon  general,  a  strapping  fellow,  tapped  his 
saber,  said  he  was  the  first  man  in  the  town,  and  made  a 
terrible  to-do. 

Valentine  Kalondai  thereupon  shoved  back  his  presi- 
dential chair,  laid  down  his  mace,  girded  on  his  sword, 


294  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

and  donned  his  hat.  There  were  now  four  persons  in  the 
council-chamber  who  had  their  hats  on. 

Then  he  turned  to  the  general  and  said:  "Have  we 
come  hither  to  deliberate  or  to  fight?" 

The  Walloon  perceived  that  he  had  met  his  match. 
Such  courage  pleased  him.  He  held  out  his  hand  to  the 
sheriff  and  said  with  a  laugh:  "Well,  well,  Master  Sheriff, 
I  have  not  come  hither  to  squabble.  Pray  sit  down 
again  and  deliberate,"  and  with  that  he  drew  back. 

This  resolute  behavior  made  such  an  impression  on  the 
members  of  the  council  that,  as  the  sheriff  resumed  his 
seat,  they  greeted  him  with  a  loud  vivat^  while  the  vic- 
torious prior  stretched  forth  his  skinny  arm  toward  him 
and  said:   "Deus  benedicat  tibi!" 

"I  have  asked  no  blessing  of  your  reverence;  he  who 
sits  in  the  judgment-seat  may  not  even  accept  a  bene- 
diction;" and  he  forthwith  began  to  investigate  the 
points  in  dispute  between  the  city  and  the  College  of 
Jesuits. 

If  you  really  want  to  test  a  man's  presence  of  mind 
and  dialectic  skill,  just  engage  him  in  an  argument  in  a 
foreign  language.  Valentine  now  showed  that  he  could 
negotiate  with  the  Jesuit  in  Latin  and  with  the  Walloon 
in  German,  without  stammering  or  stuttering  in  the  least. 
And  indeed,  as  the  conrector  could  not  help  remarking 
to  his  neighbor,  the  sheriff  was  a  far  greater  master  of 
both  languages  than  those  with  whom  he  was  negotiating. 
His  precise,  curial  style  was  easily  victorious  over  the 
Jesuit's  dog  Latin,  and  his  expressive  German,  with  his 
pithy  Lutheranisms,  was  more  than  a  match  for  the  gen- 
eral's Platt-Deutsch  dialect. 

And  the  headsman  was  standing  behind  him  all  the 
time ! 

The  questions  before  him  were  by  no  means  easy  to 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  295 

solve.  On  the  part  of  the  town  a  charter  had  to  be 
drafted  and  signed,  guaranteeing  to  the  Jesuits  all  their 
privileges  and  possessions,  and  declaring  their  cloisters  a 
sacred  asylum,  whose  very  threshold  the  secular  authori- 
ties should  never  cross.  The  College  of  Jesuits  had  also 
to  subscribe  an  agreement  pledging  itself  not  to  convert 
Protestants  to  the  Roman  faith  by  force,  artifice,  moral 
pressure,  or  any  sort  of  cajolery. 

Valentine's  clear  intelligence  knew  exactly  how  to  hit 
the  proper  mean  between  these  directly  antagonistic  pre- 
tensions, and  keep  the  document  entirely  free  from  those 
artfully  insinuated  clauses  whereby  the  Jesuits  tried  again 
and  again  to  smuggle  in  their  mental  reservations. 

The  prior  was  satisfied  with  the  compact,  and  when 
Valentine  took  up  his  pen  to  subscribe  it  the  other  unctu- 
ously exclaimed : 

"Such  a  good  sowing  will  produce  a  good  harvest!" 

And  Valentine  could  not  help  thinking,  as  he  handled 
the  pen,  "I  won  ler  what  sort  of  harvest  the  letters  I  am 
now  sowing  will  bring  in  to  me." 

The  matters  to  be  settled  with  the  general,  too,  were 
not  a  whit  less  captious.  The  relations  between  the  mili- 
tary and  the  civic  authorities  had  to  be  very  carefully 
defined  and  settled,  once  for  all.  The  city  had  an  armed 
garrison  of  its  own,  and  reserved  to  itself  the  complete 
control  of  this  garrison.  The  gates  were  to  be  watched 
by  both  parties  together.  So  the  Gordian  knot  to  be  un- 
tied was  this :  how  two  sets  of  men  diametrically  opposed 
in  nationality,  religion,  and  politics  were  to  be  made  to 
consent  to  be  faithful  guardians  of  the  law  of  the  land 
and  the  prerogatives  of  the  Kaiser,  without  prejudicing 
the  liberties  of  the  city,  or  interfering  in  any  way  with 
one  another,  or  attempting  to  violently  hew  the  knot  in 
two  with  the  sword. 


296  PRE'JTY  MICHAL. 

And  that  Kalondai  settled  this  complicated  matter  also 
in  the  wisest  possible  Avay  is  sufficiently  obvious  from  the 
fact  that  neither  party  was  quite  contented  with  his  de- 
cison. 

Last  of  all,  it  occurred  to  him  that  there  was  still  some- 
one standing  behind  him — the  headsman. 

He  did  not  tell  the  fellow  to  stand  forth,  but  alluded 
to  him  in  the  third  person,  and  as  the  man  had  a  Slovack 
accent,  he  addressed  him  in  the  Slovack  tongue,  just  as 
if  they  had  never  squabbled  with  each  other  in  their 
youth  in  the  Hungarian,  German,  and  Latin  languages. 

"Master  Henry  will  be  at  his  post  on  the  scaffold  at  six 
o'clock  to-morrow  morning,  and  there  await  with  his  ap- 
prentices the  arrival  of  the  magistrates." 

He  wasted  no  more  words  on  the  subject,  but  closed 
the  session  and  went  home. 

In  the  evening  of  the  same  day  the  very  reverend  dean 
was  sent  for  to  come  to  Kalondai's  house  to  give  a  lady 
the  sacrament  of  the  altar. 

The  dean  at  once  supposed  that  Dame  Sarah  was  on 
the  point  of  death,  and  great  was  his  astonishment  when 
they  led  him  to  the  bedside  of  the  younger  lady.  It  was 
pretty  Michal  who  desired  the  last  sacraments. 

The  very  reverend  gentleman  was  beyond  measure 
astonished  thereat.  Had  he  not  seen  Michal  piously 
praying  in  church  only  the  day  before!  And  now  she 
desired  the  sacrament  of  the  dying! 

"Would  you  haggle  with  God?"  asked  Valentine. 

So  pretty  Michal  partook  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and 
the  clergyman  gave  her  his  benediction. 

And  pretty  Michal  at  that  moment  had  no  bodily  ail- 
ment, yet  for  all  that  she  was  on  the  point  of  death. 

Next  day — it  was  a  dark  January  morning — the  gloomy 
scaffold  stood  ready  in  the  market-place  of  Kassa.     The 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  297 

early  risers  could  see  through  the  thick  mists  the  heads- 
man's apprentices,  in  their  pointed  caps,  moving  like 
hellish  shadows  about  the  burning  fire,  in  which  they 
were  heating  their  terrible  tools  red-hot,  and  warming 
their  hands  the  while,  to  prevent  them  from  growing  stiff. 

When  the  clock  in  the  church-tower  struck  seven,  the 
watchmen  on  the  bastions  struck  the  big  drum  three  times, 
whereupon  the  felon's  bell  in  the  tower  of  the  townhall  be- 
gan to  toll — a  sad,  heartrending  sound.  Then  the  gates 
of  the  courtyard  were  thrown  open,  and  out  came  the  pro- 
cession in  the  usual  order,  the  headsman  first  on  horse- 
back, then  the  convict,  and  last  of  all  the  members  of  the 
town  council,  the  sheriff,  the  superrector,  the  conrector, 
the  syndic,  and  the  civic  warden.  All  these  took  their 
places  on  the  dais,  with  the  sheriff  in  the  center,  while 
the  headsman  dismounted  from  his  horse  and  ascended 
the  scaffold. 

The  soldier  who  had  been  condemned  to  be  beheaded 
was  accompanied  to  the  place  of  execution  by  his  com- 
rades. It  was  the  special  privilege  of  every  citizen  of 
Kassa  who  suffered  capital  punishment  to  go  to  the  scaf- 
fold free  and  unfettered,  take  leave  there  of  his  family 
and  friends,  and  not  be  maltreated  by  the  headsman. 

The  convict  in  question  advanced  with  a  cheerful 
countenance  and  head  erect.  Two  of  his  comrades  ac- 
companied him,  consoling  and  consoled  by  him, 

"Never  mind,  gossips!  I  am  not  the  first  to  whom  it 
has  happened.  I  don't  take  it  so  much  to  heart,  and  it 
doesn't  hurt  anyone  else.  God  bless  those  who  are  left 
behind!" 

Then  he  kissed  and  embraced  his  little  children  one 
after  the  other,  and  distributed  them  among  his  friends. 

"To  you  I  give  my  little  son,  and  to  you  I  leave  my 
little  daughter." 


29^  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

And  SO  he  parted  with  them  all. 

Who  is  that  weeping  so  loudly? 

It  is  the  sheriff  beneath  his  canopy.  He  cannot  re- 
frain from  sobbing. 

The  convict  had  compassion  upon  his  judge,  and  said 
to  him : 

"Weep  not,  Master  Sheriff!  you  have  pronounced  a 
righteous  judgment  over  me.  I  deserve  to  die.  Not  a 
drop  of  my  blood  will  ever  burden  your  soul,  for  it  was 
a  righteous  sentence.  Turn  your  head  aside  if  you  find 
it  hard  to  see  the  sentence  carried  out!" 

But  Valentine  Kalondai  did  not  cover  his  eyes.  He 
bade  them  weep  no  more,  but  watch  the  scene  to  the  very 
end. 

He  was  learning! 

He  was  learning  how  to  mount  the  seven  steps  of  the 
scaffold  with  a  firm  step,  how  to  cheerily  tap  the  heads- 
man on  the  shoulder,  ask  him  if  his  ax  was  sharp,  and 
then  send  his  last  greetings  to  those  at  home. 

The  man  sat  down  without  any  assistance  on  the  low 
stool,  put  his  hands  on  his  knees,  stretched  forward  his 
head,  and  began  to  sing  the  well-known  verse:  "Enter 

not  into  judgment  with  thy  servant,  O "     The  word 

"Lord"  was  still  upon  his  lips  as  he  stood  before  the 
throne  of  God. 

Valentine  had  learnt  something. 

Another  and  far  more  terrible  scene  now  ensued. 
They  brought  up  the  witch. 

She  did  not  endure  her  fate  calmly.  She  bit,  kicked, 
scratched,  cursed  the  saints  and  all  mankind,  and  called 
upon  the  devil  to  help  her.  They  had  to  bind  her  by 
force  to  the  pillar. 

And  Henry  Catsrider  actually  took  pleasure  in  the 
hideous  contest. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  299 

It  is  one  of  the  most  ghastly  privileges  of  the  headsman 
to  wound  with  words  the  wretches  whom  he  is  worrying 
to  death,  to  torture  their  souls  as  well  as  their  bodies. 

"Oh — oh,  you  old  witch!  So  you  have  come  under 
my  hands  at  last,  eh?" 

"I  suckled  you,  you  dog!  You  have  sucked  witch's 
milk  from  me.     Show  yourself  the  devil  you  are!" 

"Come  along  then,  you  queen  of  witches,  come  and 
be  crowned !" 

With  that  he  placed  upon  her  head  the  crown,  made  of 
three  staves,  and  began  to  screw  them  together. 

Red  Barbara  turned  her  face  toward  Valentine  Ka- 
londai  and  cried;  "Judge!  make  them  take  this  crown 
off,  it  hurts  me!" 

"Wait  a  bit!"  said  the  headsman,  with  a  harsh  laugh; 
"I'll  give  you  a  sedative  immediately;"  and  seizing  a 
scourge  with  one  hand,  he  gave  a  vicious  twist  at  the 
screw  with  the  other. 

The  tortured  hag  bellowed  for  anguish. 

"Judge,  let  them  kill  me  outright,  let  me  die!" 

"Don't  be  afraid!  I'll  wake  you  up  again,"  sneered 
the  headsman,  and  he  tore  her  gown  from  her  shoulders, 
so  as  to  give  freer  play  to  the  lashes  of  his  scourge. 

It  was  just  such  another  purple  gown  as  that  in  which 
Michal  had  once  so  greatly  excited  Valentine's  admira- 
tion, and  the  recollection  of  that  dress  occurred  to  Henry 
also. 

"Is  not  this  the  dress  you  stole  from  my  wife,  you 
thief,  you  incendiary?"  and  again  the  lash  hissed  through 
the  air. 

"Do  you  strike  me,  you  hangman?  You  knacker, 
you!  I'll  strike  you  back  now!  I'll  brand  your  face  so 
that  you  will  bear  the  marks  about  with  you  to  your  dy- 
ing day.     You  cuckold,  you  horned  beast!      You  have 


30C>  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

crowned  me,  have  you!  I'll  crown  you  still  better. 
Your  wife,  your  pretty  Michal,  still  lives,  and  is  the  mis- 
tress of  that  sheriff  yonder!  You  have  two  horns  on 
your  head,  bear  them  as  best  you  can !" 

The  headsman's  apprentices  began  to  laugh. 

Furious  with  rage  at  this  taunt,  the  headsman  gave  the 
gibbering  witch  such  a  blow  on  the  head,  with  the  leaden 
knob  of  his  scourge,  that  she  never  spoke  another  word 
on  this  earth ;  then,  rushing  to  the  edge  of  the  scaffold, 
he  stretched  out  his  arm  and  pointed  his  whip  at  Valen- 
tine. 

The  town-councilors  sprang  to  their  feet  with  a  shud- 
der. 

Then  Valentine  said  in  a  calm  voice:  "It  is  so — it  is 
true!" 

Augustus  Zwirina  immediately  turned  toward  him  and 
said:  "Then,  Mr.  Valentine  Kalondai,  the  time  has 
come  for  you  to  lay  down  the  sheriff's  staff!" 

Valentine  surrendered  his  staff,  descended  from  the 
tribune,  and  went  straight  home.  He  went  quite  alone. 
Not  a  soul  accompanied  him. 

When  he  got  home,  pretty  Michal  could  read  from  his 
face  that  misfortune  had  overtaken  him, 

"It's  all  up.     We  are  betrayed  and  openly  accused." 

Pretty  Michal  was  not  dismayed  by  this  intelligence, 
she  was  prepared  for  it. 

"I  only  ask  one  thing  of  you,"  said  she  to  Valentine, 
"and  as  you  love  me,  you  must  grant  it.  Our  sole  de- 
fense is  that  Henry  Catsrider,  when  he  married  me,  gave 
himself  out  to  my  father  as  a  different  person  from  what 
he  really  was.  That  is  an  impediment  which  nullifies  the 
marriage.  We  might,  therefore,  defend  ourselves  by  con- 
tending that  I  was  not  his  true  and  lawful  wife,  that  he 
married  me  under  false  pretenses,  and  kept  me   in  his 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  30 1 

house  by  force.  I  pray  and  beseech  you  not  to  offer  any 
such  defense.  My  poor  father  knows  not  what  has  be- 
fallen me,  and  I  wish  him  never  to  know  it." 

"But  I  have  a  mother." 

"Her  heart  will  break  for  your  sake.  I  know  it.  But 
then  she  will  live  forever  among  the  choirs  of  angels. 
She  has  nothing  to  reproach  herself  Avitli.  Her  inward 
monitor  does  not  accuse  her.  But  it  is  my  father's  own 
fault  that  I  came  into  this  terrible  situation.  If  he  ever 
learns  that  he  is  the  sole  cause  of  all  this  sorrow  and 
shame,  it  will  not  only  be  the  death  of  him,  but  it  will 
make  him  lose  his  hopes  of  heaven." 

Valentine  kissed  his  pretty  Michal. 

"You  are  right.     We  will  not  defend  ourselves." 

At  that  moment  worthy  Simplex  appeared. 

"Quick,  comrade!  Take  horse  I  The  gates  are  not 
yet  closed.  Twelve  of  your  trusty  friends  have  banded 
to  assist  your  flight.  There  is  no  time  for  reflection. 
The  town  council  is  at  this  moment  deciding  your  fate." 

But  Valentine  answered:  "If  I  alone  were  concerned, 
I  do  not  say  that  I  would  not  attempt  to  escape.  But 
there  are  two  of  us,  and  rather  let  my  head  be  thrown 
into  the  dust  along  with  the  head  of  my  Michal  than  her 
name  and  mine  should  be  written  over  the  pillory  to  our 
eternal  shame.     Here  we  remain,  come  what  may." 

"Good!  Be  it  so!"  said  Simplex.  "But,  at  least, 
defend  yourself.  You  know  the  rule:  'Si  fecisti,  nega!' 
We  will  give  the  accusers  enough  to  do.  I  will  swear 
that  I  saw  with  my  own  eyes  the  wife  of  Henry,  the  hang- 
man, perish  in  the  flames.  I  don't  care  very  much 
whether  I  am  a  cell  higher  or  lower  in  hell.  I  know  the 
commandment  says:  'Thou  must  not  bear  false  witness 
against  thy  neighbor.'  But  there  is  nothing  said  about 
bearing  false  witness  to  befriend  thy  neighbor." 


302  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

"No,  my  good  Simplex!  we  don't  do  that.  If  my 
Michal  were  to  say  that  she  had  never  been  Henry's  wife, 
but  was  another  person,  she  would  next  be  asked  who  she 
really  was  then,  and  who  her  father  was.  But  this  she 
never  will  say.      Do  you  understand  why?" 

"Yes,  comrade,  I  do  understand.  She  would  spare 
the  white  hairs  of  her  father." 

"And  if  she  would  not  answer  this  question,  would  you 
like  them  to  lay  upon  the  rack  her  whom  I  adore?" 

Valentine,  in  his  anguish,  pressed  the  trembling  crea- 
ture to  his  breast,  while  Simplex  gnashed  his  teeth,  and 
struck  his  forehead  with  his  fist. 

"And  finally,"  said  Valentine,  proudly  raising  his 
head,  "I  would  rather  die  one  hundred  times  over,  and 
see  my  wife  die  before  my  eyes,  than  let  a  single  lie  cross 
my  lips,  which  would  make  me  blush  when  I  stood  face 
to  face  with  the  knacker  of  Zeb.  Rather  let  my  blood 
trickle  to  the  ground  than  stream  into  my  face  for  shame! 
What !  would  you  have  me  lie  to  this  man,  and  then  turn 
my  face  away  from  him?  I  will  oppose  him  boldly,  tell 
him  the  truth,  and  then  spit  in  his  face." 

"Right,  Valentine,  right!  You  are  acting  like  a  true 
man,"  said  Simplex,  while  pretty  Michal  fell  at  her  hus- 
band's feet  and  kissed  his  hands.  "Then  you  must  ac- 
cept our  last  offer.  If  you  will  neither  fly  nor  lie,  our 
twelve  trusty  friends  will  give  good  bail  to  the  city  magis- 
trates to  prevent  you  from  being  put  in  fetters." 

"I  will  accept  that  offer  thankfully,  and  make  bold  to 
say  that  they  will  lose  nothing  by  it." 

Simplex  had  no  sooner  departed  than  a  message  came 
from  the  town  council,  summoning  Valentine  and  his 
wife  to  appear  before  it. 

Dame  Sarah  now  learnt  for  the  first  time  whereof  her 
children  were  accused,  and  was  terribly  enraged  thereat. 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  303 

Dressed  just  as  she  used  to  be  indoors  (she  did  not 
even  throw  her  fur  mantle  over  her  shoulders),  she 
rushed  after  her  children.  She  would  like  to  see  who 
would  dare  to  rob  her  of  them. 

She  followed  the  accused  into  the  council-chamber. 
The  halberdiers  would  have  kept  her  back,  but  she  sent 
them  spinning  to  the  left  and  right  against  the  door- 
posts, and  forced  her  way  up  to  the  green  table  itself. 
She  could  scarcely  restrain  herself  while  the  syndic  read 
out  the  accusation,  according  to  which  Valentine  had 
abducted  the  wife  of  Henry  Catsrider,  and  unlawfully 
cohabited  with  her.  Then  Dame  Sarah  could  contain 
herself  no  longer. 

"The  whole  thing  is  a  lie,  a  shameless,  scandalous 
calumny!  What!  my  daughter-in-law,  Milly,  the  wife 
of  the  headsman  of  Zeb !  Step  forth,  you  scarlet  jug- 
gler! Produce  the  marriage  certificate  which  can  show 
that  my  daughter-in-law,  Milly,  was  ever  married  to  the 
knacker  of  Zeb!  Your  wife,  forsooth,  you  red  dog! 
This  gentle,  pious  creature,  who  is  a  veritable  angel! 
Or  name,  if  you  can,  the  clergyman  who  united  you  at 
the  altar,  you  spawn  of  hell,  you  flayer  of  men,  you 
scarecrow,  with  this  angelic  creature!" 

Henry  was  terribly  alarmed.  His  teeth  chattered  and 
his  chin  waggled,  beard  and  all,  at  this  woman's  on- 
slaught, for  he  could  not  have  proved  that  Michal  had 
been  married  to  him,  the  hangman.  He  had  married  her 
as  a  clergyman.  He  had  obtained  her  hand  by  subtlety. 
And  all  this  would  now  come  out.  He  did  not  know 
what  to  say.     Words  failed  him. 

But  still  more  frightened  was  Michal.  Full  of  terror 
she  pressed  her  husband's  hand. 

Then  Valentine  turned  to  Henry  Catsrider  and  said: 

"I  forbid  you  to  answer  that  question.     It  has  no  bear- 
20 


304  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

ing  on  the  case,  I  acknowledge  and  confess  that  my 
consort  was  this  man's  wife.  I  took  her  from  him  be- 
cause it  was  better  for  her  to  die  with  me  than  to  live 
with  him,  and  I  am  responsible  for  it  to  God  alone  and 
his  avenging  cherubim." 

"But  here  below  you  are  also  responsible  to  the  high 
tribunal  of  the  worshipful  city  of  Kassa, "  said  the  pre- 
siding superrector.  "You  know  the  law.  You  know 
that  death  is  the  penalty  for  such  a  transgression," 

"I  await  death." 

"You  shall  not  be  disappointed." 

Pretty  Michal  crossed  her  arms  over  her  breast,  and 
turning  her  martyr-like  face  to  heaven,  looked  up  as  if 
transfigured,  while  Valentine  supported  her  with  his 
stalwart  arm. 

A  solemn  pause  ensued,  and  then  the  silence  was 
broken  by  the  heartrending  cry  of  Dame  Sarah: 

"I  appeal!" 

"To  whom?"  inquired  the  cruelly  cold  voice  of  the 
superrector. 

"To  the  Prince." 

"He  lies  in  a  Polish  dungeon." 

"To  the  Kaiser,  then." 

"He  died  last  week." 

"Then  I  appeal  to  God!"  cried  the  mother,  in  her 
bitter  agony. 

"He's  napping!"  answered  a  deep,  hollow  voice, 
which  seemed  to  come  from  the  very  bowels  of  the  earth. 
It  was  the  headsman  who  had  spoken. 

But  the  dean  there  and  then  arose  from  his  place  at 
the  green  table,  and  gave  the  speaker  such  a  buffet  in 
the  face  that  the  blood  flowed  in  streams  from  his  mouth 
and  nose. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Things  in  this  world  do  not  always  exactly  turn  out  as  men  devise 

beforehand. 

The  Zwirinas  had  won  a  complete  triumph  over  the 
Kalondais.  They  were  amply  revenged  for  the  humilia- 
tion in  the  cathedral,  for  the  defeat  in  the  duel.  Their 
wounded  pride  was  satisfied. 

The  sentence  pronounced  by  the  town  council  was  that 
both  the  guilty  parties  should  be  beheaded,  the  woman 
first.  Moreover,  the  headless  bodies  were  not  to  be 
buried  in  the  churchyard,  but  in  the  churchyard  ditch 
where  all  the  asses  of  the  town  browsed  on  the  abundant 
thistles. 

This  was  an  aggravation  of  the  original  sentence.  But 
it  was  a  case  where  a  memorable  example  had  to  be 
made.  A  vile  transgressor  had  intruded  himself  into  the 
highest  office  of  the  town;  an  infamous  woman,  living  in 
adultery,  had  dared  to  appropriate  the  foremost  pew  in 
the  cathedral,  thus  defiling  the  most  respectable  society 
in  the  town  with  her  presence,  and  shamelessly  laying 
claim  to  honors  which  did  not  belong  to  her.  Public 
opinion  was  shocked  and  outraged  by  such  a  scandal. 
It  was  an  offense  which  death  alone  could  not  atone  for. 
It  must  be  pursued  even  beyond  the  grave. 

Yet  the  judges  had  at  least  so  much  humanity — they 
would  not  let  Henry  Catsrider  execute  his  own  wife.  It 
was  enough  that  the  seducer  should  be  made  over  to 
him. 

And  again  the  felon's  bell  rang,  again  the  gates  of  the 


3o6  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

townhall  were  thrown  open,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  sad 
procession  came  the  unhappy  pair,  supporting  one  an- 
other; Michal  in  a  snow-vvhite  garment,  her  beautiful 
face  bound  round  with  a  white  fillet,  but  Valentine  in  his 
court  dress,  in  his  jacket  with  the  foxskin  collar,  and 
with  his  long  hair  flowing  down  his  shoulders. 

The  members  of  the  council  took  their  places  on  the 
dais  beneath  the  baldachin,  and  in  the  midst  of  them  sat 
Augustus  Zwirina. 

When  they  reached  the  scaffold,  Valentine  would  have 
supported  Michal  as  she  ascended  the  steps,  but  she 
needed  no  assistance.  It  was  with  an  easy  heart  and  a 
light  step  that  she  mounted  up. 

In  the  distance  could  be  heard  the  shrieks  of  a  woman, 
whom  the  halberdiers  had  to  keep  back  by  main  force 
lest  she  should  make  a  disturbance.  It  was  Dame 
Sarah. 

When  they  had  got  to  the  top  of  the  scaffold,  which 
was  hung  with  black  cloth,  Valentine  kissed  the  hands 
and  the  cheeks  of  .his  Michal. 

"Do  you  forgive  me?" 

"I  have  nothing  to  forgive." 

"For  your  horrible  death?" 

"It  unites  me  eternally  with  you." 

"Do  you  expect  that  we  shall  meet  again?" 

"I'll  wait  at  the  gates  of  heaven  till  you  come." 

"And  if  for  my  sin's  sake  I  go  to  hell?" 

"I'll  pray  to  God  till  he  releases  you." 

"Would  you  like  to  pray  again  now?" 

"No,  my  heart  is  at  peace." 

"Amen!" 

Then  she  sat  her  down  on  the  little  stool,  and  bound 
up  her  hair  with  the  white  fillet. 

An  iron  coffin  was  there  to  hold  them  both. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  30? 

The  headsman's  henchman  stood  close  by  the  little 
stool,  leaning  on  his  sword. 

Michal  recognized  and  spoke  to  him. 

"Tell  me  now,  Master  Matthias!  was  I  not  always  a 
good  mistress  to  you?" 

"Would  to  God  you  had  never  been!"  murmured  the 
rough  fellow. 

"Deal  gently  with  me  now,  and  God  reward  you  for 
it." 

A  flash,  a  whiz,  and  human  justice  was  satisfied.  But 
there  above  the  angels  were  awaiting  their  sister,  and 
asked  her  which  was  the  better  of  the  two — death,  or 
what  they  call  life  on  earth? 

Henry  Catsrider  sprang  from  the  other  end  of  the 
scaffold  to  pick  up  the  corpse. 

"Touch  her  not!"  cried  Valentine,  with  the  voice  of 
an  angry  lion,  "or  I'll  give  you  a  blow  which  will  send 
you  to  the  other  world  before  me." 

With  that  he  threw  off  his  jacket,  and  called  to  the 
crowd  around: 

"Whoever  will  come  and  help  me,  shall  have  my  fox- 
skin  jacket!" 

"Here  I  am  ! "  cried  a  well-known  voice,  and  the  faith- 
ful Simplex  ascended  to  the  scaffold. 

"Help  me  to  lay  her  in  the  cofifin!"  said  Valentine; 
"and  then  don't  forget  what  I  asked  you  to  do."  And 
with  the  help  of  his  friend  he  laid  his  pretty  Michal  in 
that  sad  bed  from  which  no  one  ever  rises  again  till  the 
last  trump. 

Then  he  embraced  his  faithful  comrade  and  sent  him 
away. 

"Now  it  is  our  turn,  Henry  Catsrider!"  said  he,  turn- 
ing to  his  mortal  foe. 

The  dean,  who  had  accompanied  him  so  far  to  give 


30"^  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

him  the  consolations  of  religion,  exhorted  him  to  turn  to 
God  in  this  the  last  moment  of  his  life  and  to  pray. 
Valentine  beckoned  him  away. 

"I  believe  in  a  God,  but  not  in  the  bloodthirsty  God 
in  whom  you  believe." 

"Do  not  die  without  the  blessing  of  the  Church,"  said 
the  clergyman  appealingly. 

"Can  I  require  a  greater  blessing  from  the  Church 
than  to  have  for  my  confessor  the  executioner  who  cuts 
off  my  head?" 

The  crowd  below  took  great  pleasure  in  this  passage 
of  arms. 

Valentine,  in  fact,  was  seized  by  that  desperate  merri- 
ment which  is  known  as  gallows  humor.  The  spirits  of 
those  who  had  preceded  him  in  this  dreadful  stage  swept 
around  him  and  suggested  bitter  jibes  and  taunts. 

"Well,  my  good  friend,"  said  Valentine  jocosely,  to 
Henry,  "is  it  to-day  with  you  or  to-morrow?  Your  eyes 
look  as  crooked  as  if  you  had  not  slept  all  night.  I  fear 
me  you  will  not  strike  where  you  aim." 

Henry  had  indeed  been  drinking  hard  all  night  to  keep 
up  his  spirits. 

"Well!  How  shall  I  do  up  ray  hair?"  asked  Valen- 
tine, sitting  down  on  the  little  stool,  and  tying  up  his 
locks  with  the  self-same  white  fillet  (it  was  red  now)  which 
Michal  had  wound  round  her  tresses. 

"Will  it  do  so?" 

"A  little  higher!"  said  Catsrider. 

"What!  higher  still?  Well!  how  will  that  do  for 
you?" 

This  nonchalance  made  the  headsman  perfectly  furious. 
He  had  no  opportunity  of  reveling  in  the  mental  agony 
of  his  foe,  for,  even  on  the  very  threshold  of  death,  Valen- 
tine only  bantered  him.     In  ordinary  times  it  was  not  in 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  309 

Valentine's  nature  to  behave  thus,  but  now  a  feeling  of 
mad  disdain  had  come  over  him,  whereby  he  expressed 
the  utter  scorn  he  felt  for  all  his  enemies. 

"Now,  master  headsman,  pray  don't  keep  me  waiting." 

Rage  filled  Henry's  heart,  and  rage  is  a  bad  marks- 
man. He  raised  his  sword,  and  the  blow  fell  just  where 
the  hair  on  Valentine's  head  was  coiled  in  its  thickest 
folds.  The  false  blow  made  Catsrider  lose  his  balance. 
He  stumbled,  fell  sprawling,  and  struck  his  head  so  hard 
against  the  corner  of  the  coffin  intended  for  Valentine 
that  he  remained  lying  there  senseless. 

The  mob  raised  a  fearful  howl  when,  after  the  blow 
had  descended,  they  saw  the  delinquent  spring  up  while 
the  executioner  lay  prone  on  the  ground. 

"Let  him  go  free!"  cried  some;  "when  the  heads- 
man misses  his  blow  the  delinquent  should  be  reprieved." 
Others,  however,  were  for  the  headsman's  apprentices 
taking  up  the  sword  and  completing  the  sentence. 

During  this  uproar  Valentine  looked  down  from  the 
lofty  scaffold.  He  saw  the  excitement  of  his  enemies  on 
the  dais,  and  heard  them  cry : 

"Down  with  him!" 

He  saw  a  desperate  woman  attempting  to  force  her 
way  through  the  crowd,  and  recognized  in  her  his  mother. 
He  threw  a  glance  at  his  slain  beloved,  and  then  an  idea 
suddenly  flashed  through  his  brain. 

"Hither,  Valentine,  hither!"  It  was  the  voice  of  Sim- 
plex. 

Valentine  sprang  down  from  the  scaffold  among  the 
crowd. 

"After  him,  seize  him!"  cried  the  members  of  the 
town  council  to  the  drabants  surrounding  the  scaffold. 

The  throng  was  very  dense.  Eacli  man  pressed  hard 
upon  his  neighbor.     But  when  Valentine  broke  through. 


3IO  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

a  path  was  made  for  him  which  closed  immediately  on 
his  pursuers.  Not  one  of  the  crowd  laid  hands  on  him. 
Simplex  and  his  comrades  covered  his  flight. 

He  escaped  from  the  crowd,  and  ran  along  the  street 
with  his  pursuers  hot  upon  his  heels,  headed  by  the 
superrector  with  his  gold-headed  stick  of  office  raised 
aloft,  the  headsman  (who  had  in  the  meantime  recovered) 
with  his  drawn  sword,  and  the  drabants  with  their  hal- 
berts. 

At  the  end  of  the  street  Valentine  found  an  open  door, 
through  which  he  darted.  This  door  closed  behind  him, 
and  when  the  pursuers  came  up  and  loudly  demanded 
admission,  it  suddenly  reopened  and  out  stepped  the 
Prior  of  the  Jesuits,  Father  Hieronymus,  with  the  char- 
ter in  his  hand.  They  could  tell  it  by  the  long  pendant 
seals. 

"Be  off!"  cried  he,  "this  house  is  an  asylum!" 

It  was  the  cloister  of  the  Jesuits.  The  secular 
authorities  were  debarred  from  crossing  the  threshold  by 
their  own  charter. 

So  wondrously  fulfilled  was  the  prophecy  of  the  prior, 
that  the  seed  which  Valentine  had  sown  when  he  sub- 
scribed this  document  would  one  day  turn  out  to  his  ad- 
vantage. 

When,  however,  they  brought  the  news  to  Dame  Sarah 
that  her  son  had  fled  to  the  cloister  of  the  Jesuits,  and 
now  remained  beneath  their  protection,  the  poor  lady  was 
quite  overcome  and  said: 

"Would  that  he  had  rather  died  by  the  side  of  his 
Michal!" 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Wherein  carnival  revels  are  described. 

Out  of  this  incident  ag  reat  dispute  arose.  The  wor- 
shipful corporation  held  it  as  a  point  of  honor  that  when 
once  they  had  condemned  a  man  to  death,  that  man's 
head  must  be  severed  from  his  body.  The  College  of 
Jesuits  maintained,  on  the  other  hand,  that  whoever  had 
once  taken  refuge  in  their  cloister  could  be  removed  by 
no  earthly  authority  from  that  sacred  asylum. 

And  besides  their  respective  rights  in  the  matter,  each 
party  had  other  reasons  m  petto. 

Those  who  had  got  the  government  of  the  city  through 
Kalondai's  fall  could  never  feel  absolutely  at  their  ease 
so  long  as  he  remained  alive.  They  were  afraid  that  the 
rapid  turn  of  Fortune's  wheel  might  bring  him  to  the 
helm  again,  and  then,  woe  betide  them. 

But  the  Jesuits  calculated  that  Valentine,  out  of  grati- 
tude for  his  deliverance  by  them,  would  become  their 
convert,  in  which  case  their  hands  at  Kassa  would  be 
greatly  strengthened. 

Both  parties  therefore  thought  it  worth  while  to  send 
plenipotentiaries  to  the  Palatine  and  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Hungary,  petitioning  for  a  decree  in  their  favor. 

Meanwhile  the  gates  of  the  Jesuit  cloisters  were 
watched  day  and  night,  so  that  Valentine  might  not 
escape. 

There  were  two  persons  who  made  it  their  special  busi- 
ness to  watch  the  cloister:  Augustus  Zwirina,  who  sent  a 

311 


312  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

drabant,  and  Henry  Catsrider,  who  sent  one  of  his  own 
apprentices. 

The  headsman  had  another  reason,  besides  mere  per- 
sonal vengeance,  for  cutting  off  Valentine's  head.  His 
own  neck  was  in  danger.  The  world  is  so  bad  that  even 
the  headsman  has  enemies.  Report  said  that  Henry  was 
drunk  when  he  came  to  execute  the  law's  sentence,  and 
that  was  why  he  had  missed  his  aim.  And  the  execu- 
tioner has  his  own  executioner  also,  who  strikes  him  in 
the  face  in  the  middle  of  the  market  place,  if  he  com- 
mits a  fault  sufficiently  grievous  to  carry  deprivation  from 
his  office  along  with  it. 

Therefore  Henry  howled  up  at  the  windows  of  the 
cloister  every  evening,  and  threatened  to  quarter  Valen- 
tine alive  when  he  got  him  into  his  hands. 

The  watchers  allowed  no  suspicious  person  to  leave  the 
cloister  unsearched.  It  happened  once  that  a  servant 
died  at  the  cloister.  As  they  were  carrying  the  corpse 
away  to  be  buried,  the  town  council  ordered  the  coffin  to 
be  searched  to  make  sure  that  Valentine  was  not  being 
smuggled  out  in  that  way,  and  a  stringent  order  was 
issued  forbidding  people  to  go  out  at  night  without  lan- 
terns, under  the  penalty  of  imprisonment. 

At  last  the  judgment  of  the  Supreme  Tribunal  on  the 
asylum  question  reached  Kassa. 

The  judgment  ran  as  follows:  "Whereas  the  Jesuits 
have  the  right  of  asylum  for  their  cloister,  but  whereas 
it  is  forbidden  them  to  forcibly  detain  those  of  another 
persuasion,  it  is  now  hereby  declared  that  the  privilege 
of  sanctuary  can  only  be  accorded  to  Valentine  Kalondai 
on  condition  that  he  consents  to  be  received  into  the 
bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church  as  a  priest,  but  if  he  re- 
mains in  his  former  faith  he  is  to  be  handed  over  to  jus- 
tice.     Three  days'  grace,  moreover,  are  allowed  to  the 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  313 

said  Valentine  Kalondai,  within  which  time  he  is  to  come 
to  a  decision." 

With  this  politic  document  both  the  Jesuits  and  the 
Zwirina  faction  were  very  well  satisfied.  The  former 
calculated  that  the  delinquent  who  had  escaped  from  the 
scaffold  would  much  rather  submit  to  the  tonsure  than 
lose  his  whole  head,  and  would  rather  renounce  the 
friendship  of  Calvin  than  dear  life  itself,  and  this  they 
thought  would  be  a  great  triumph  for  them.  But  this 
very  thing  would  have  been  no  small  triumph  to  Zwirina 
and  Co.  also,  for  the  whole  Hungarian  party,  which  con- 
sisted for  the  most  part  of  Calvinists,  would  be  humbled 
to  the  dust  by  such  an  apostasy.  As  a  renegade,  Valen- 
tine Kalondai  would  be  as  good  as  dead  and  buried. 

When  Dame  Sarah  heard  of  this  judgment,  she  said  to 
Simplex,  who  since  the  days  of  her  calamity  had  been  a 
constant  visitor  at  her  house:  "Go  to  my  son,  and  tell 
him  that  I  would  rather  see  his  head  severed  from  his 
body  than  his  soul  separated  from  my  soul.  He  will 
understand  what  I  mean." 

But  Simplex  had  something  else  to  say  to  Valentine, 
of  which  Dame  Sarah  knew  nothing. 

Two  days  of  the  respite  had  already  elapsed;  the  third 
was  Shrove  Tuesday,  the  day  of  fools. 

Valentine  had  as  yet  not  declared  his  resolution,  but 
he  had  now  only  till  vespers  to  do  so.  If  he  still  re- 
mained silent,  then  it  would  be  taken  as  a  sign  that  he 
preferred  to  submit  to  the  sentence  of  death. 

Henry  Catsrider  had  had  the  scaffold  reerected. 
Valentine  could  see  it  from  the  cloister  window. 

No  one  else,  however,  troubled  himself  about  it,  for  it 
was  the  last  day  of  carnival,  and  all  the  world  was  think- 
ing of  the  carnival  frolics.  All  day  long  boisterous 
masks  paraded  the  streets — men  disguised  as  women,  all 


314  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

sorts  of  guys  dressed  up  on  horseback;  and  in  the  even- 
ing, they  all  met  together  to  carry  out  the  carnival  and 
bury  him.  The  lads  vied  with  one  another  as  to  who 
should  make  the  greatest  fools  of  themselves.  One 
lengthened  his  legs  with  stilts,  another  made  himself  up 
as  a  giant.  There  were  some  who  stuck  themselves  all 
over  with  feathers,  and  strutted  about  like  birds,  while 
others  stuffed  themselves  out  till  they  were  as  big  as  bar- 
rels. One  trumpeted,  another  rattled,  a  third  drummed 
away  on  a  huge  frying-pan. 

The  most  attractive  mask  of  all,  however,  was  the  car- 
nival horse,  which  consisted  of  two  men.  The  first  man 
made  up  the  fore  part  of  the  horse;  he  wore  the  horse's 
head,  which  was  true  to  nature  and  as  large  as  life,  while 
the  other,  who  planted  his  head  in  the  middle  of  the  first 
man's  body,  composed  the  rear  part  of  the  horse;  both 
were  covered  with  a  large  horsecloth,  on  which  lay  a  sad- 
dle with  the  dependent  stirrups,  and  the  whole  thing 
looked  exactly  like  a  real  horse.  The  man  in  front  had 
all  the  fun  of  the  thing.  He  could  trumpet  whenever  he 
felt  inclined,  he  drank  whatever  people  liked  to  give  him, 
and  he  held  a  large  whip  in  his  hand,  with  which  he 
struck  at  everyone  who  came  too  near  him.  But  the 
poor  fellow  who  formed  the  rear  part  of  the  horse  had  a 
much  harder  billet.  He  saw  nothing  and  heard  nothing, 
and  was  obliged  to  scramble  along  in  a  stooping  position 
wherever  the  man  in  front  chose  to  lead  him ;  and  if  his 
leader  did  not  look  well  after  him,  he  got  from  everyone 
of  the  passers-by  a  sounding  thump  on  the  hindermost 
part  of  his  person.  It  was  not  easy,  therefore,  to  find 
someone  willing  to  accept  this  role,  and  generally  some 
lubber  of  an  apprentice,  who  had  failed  in  everything 
else,  was  pitchforked  into  it. 

Now  just  at  that  time  there  was  no  such  apprentice  in 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  315 

all  the  guilds  of  Kassa,  so  that  there  was  absolutely  no 
one  to  take  up  this  unpleasant  role  but  the  poor,  good- 
natured  Turk  Ali,  who  could  be  persuaded  to  do  any- 
thing, and  everyone  could  see  his  red  slippers  peeping 
out  from  under  the  horsecloth  as  the  carnival  steed 
pranced  along.  It  was  an  open  secret  that  the  carnival 
horseman  who  rode  this  steed  was  Simplex  himself. 

Behind  the  carnival  steed  came  the  carnival  himself  in  a 
cart  drawn  by  two  oxen.  He  lay  in  a  red  coffin,  which 
was  covered  all  over  with  fools'  caps,  bells,  and  masks. 
Giants  with  heads  as  large  as  barrels  and  gigantic  storks 
walked  alongside  of  him,  carrying  his  escutcheon  on  a 
pole,  and  behind  the  coffin  marched  a  roystering  band  of 
apprentices  made  up  as  buxom  wenches,  who  offered 
their  tankards  to  everyone  who  passed  and  would  abso- 
lutely take  no  denial. 

The  carnival's  funeral  procession  stopped  before  the 
dwelling  of  every  guildmaster  and  every  clergyman.  The 
leader  of  the  procession  pronounced  a  loud  eulogium  on 
every  notability,  to  which  the  notability  in  question  re- 
sponded by  refilling  the  empty  tankards  with  wine  or  beer. 
On  each  such  occasion  the  fool's  sacristan  awoke  the 
carnival  in  his  coffin,  lifted  up  the  pall  and  gave  him  a 
drink.  The  carnival  was  also  an  apprentice,  and  he  cer- 
tainly had  one  of  the  very  best  billets,  for  all  he  had  to 
do  was  to  lie  still  and  drink. 

When  the  carnival's  funeral  procession  arrived  in  front 
of  the  cloister  of  the  Jesuits,  the  two  armed  watchmen, 
the  drabant  and  the  headsman's  assistant,  were  still  stand- 
ing there,  one  on  each  side  of  the  door. 

The  waggish  crowd  pressed  upon  them  from  all  sides, 
and  while  the  funeral  car  with  its  canopy,  its  cortege,  and 
its  banners  surrounded  the  door,  one  of  the  buxom 
wenches  fell  upon  the  neck  of  the  drabant  and  kissed  and 


3i6  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

hugged  him,  while  a  giant  raven  with  a  pointed  beak 
forced  his  tankard  on  the  headsman's  assistant,  and  com- 
pelled him  to  drain  it  to  the  dregs,  finally  bonneting  him 
with  the  empty  tankard. 

All  this  lasted  for  a  single  brief  instant,  but  it  was  quite 
long  enough  for  the  cloister  door  to  open  and  close  again. 
What  had  happened  in  the  meantime  was  known  only  to 
the  initiated. 

Then  the  fools'  procession  went  on  more  noisily  than 
ever. 

When  they  arrived  at  the  Miskolcz  gate,  the  superrec- 
tor  Zwirina  and  his  halberdiers  barred  the  way. 

"Whither  are  you  going?"  said  he  to  the  carnival 
horseman. 

Simplex  held  a  quill  to  his  mouth,  and  squeaked 
through  it  in  a  thin,  chirpy,  birdlike  voice: 

"We  are  going  to  bury  the  dead  carnival." 

But  Augustus  Zwirina  was  a  knowing  man,  and  he  had 
his  suspicions. 

"Let  me  see  if  this  carnival  is  really  dead,"  said  he. 

And  with  that  he  tore  the  cover  from  the  face  of  the 
figure  lying  in  the  cofifin. 

The  fellow  representing  the  carnival  rose  in  his  bier, 
distended  his  broad  mouth,  and  grinned  in  the  superrec- 
tor's  face.  He  was  an  honest  brushmaker's  apprentice. 
The  whole  crowd  burst  into  roars  of  laughter  and  derisive 
yells.  Everyone  instantly  guessed  that  the  superrector 
had  sought  for  Valentine  Kalondai  in  the  carnival's 
cofifin. 

Old  Zwirina  was  very  angry  and  ashamed. 

"You  may  take  him  to  hell,  if  you  like!"  cried  he  to 
the  crowd  of  revelers,  and,  by  way  of  jocose  emphasis, 
he  gave  the  backward  part  of  the  carnival  horse  a  spank- 
ing thump,  but  received  a  kick  in  return  which  sent  him 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  31? 

sprawling  into  the  mud.  The  horse,  which  lost  one  of 
the  red  slippers  of  its  hind  feet  in  consequence,  then 
bolted  off  like  mad,  while  Simplex  yelled  like  a  cockney 
horseman  on  a  runaway  nag,  tugged  at  the  reins,  and  im- 
plored the  laughing  crowd  to  stop  the  beast.  But  the 
mob  only  chivied  the  horse  all  the  more,  till  it  had  far 
outdistanced  its  panting  escort.  When  at  last  he  arrived 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  churchyard,  Simplex  blew  his 
trumpet  with  all  his  might,  and  at  the  shrill  sound  two 
stout  lads  leaped  up  out  of  the  cemetery  ditch,  leading 
after  them  a  horse  saddled  and  bridled. 

"Valentine!"  cried  Simplex,  "ecce  tuum  Bucepha- 
lum!" 

Then  the  man  forming  the  hinder  part  of  the  carnival 
steed  sprang  quickly  forth  from  beneath  the  horsecloth. 
It  was  not  the  Turk  Ali,  but  Valentine  Kalondai. 

The  condemned  convict  threw  himself  upon  the  horse 
and  galloped  off. 

Simplex  and  the  comrades  who  had  assisted  him  in  the 
execution  of  this  stratagem  threw  their  masquerading  cos- 
tumes into  the  churchyard  ditch,  and  after  making  a  wide 
circuit  of  the  town,  returned  to  it  by  the  Leutschau  gate 
as  if  they  knew  nothing  at  all  about  it. 

The  Turk  Ali  had  exchanged  roles  with  Valentine  in 
the  gates  of  the  cloister. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

The  Lenten  penance  succeeds  the  carnival  revels. 

When  they  brought  the  news  to  Augustus  Zwirina  that 
Valentine  Kalondai  had  happily  escaped,  the  big  fat  man 
suddenly  grew  blue  in  the  face,  and  was  struck  down 
with  apoplexy  on  the  spot.  So  swiftly  did  death  over- 
take him  that  he  had  not  even  time  to  make  his  will. 

This  extraordinary  case  made  a  huge  sensation  through- 
out the  town.  Whole  processions  of  acquaintances 
thronged  the  house  of  mourning,  and  in  the  courts  of  the 
Zwirinas  there  was  wailing  and  woe. 

Now  the  courtyard  of  the  Kalondais  was  only  separated 
from  that  of  the  Zwirinas  by  a  narrow  partition  wall. 
When  then  Dame  Sarah  heard  the  lamentations  in  her 
neighborhood,  and  learnt  the  cause  thereof,  viz.,  that 
her  son  had  managed  to  escape  and  that  the  superrector 
had  died  of  grief  in  consequence,  she  planted  herself  in 
the  passage,  and,  despite  the  keenness  of  a  February 
morning,  began  to  sing  the  psalms  in  which  King  David 
celebrates  the  humiliation  of  his  enemies.  The  louder 
grew  the  lamentations  next  door,  the  louder  she  sang  her 
revengefully  exultant  psalms. 

Who  could  forbid  her?     Were  they  not  sacred  songs? 

On  the  day  of  the  funeral,  too,  she  sat  on  the  balcony 
of  her  house,  and  while  the  priests  and  the  choristers  be- 
low were  intoning  dirges  by  the  side  of  the  bier,  and  the 
relations  of  the  dead  man  accompanied  these  mournful 
songs  with  their  sobs,  the  butcher's  widow,  dressed  in 

318 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  319 

white,  as  if  she  were  holding  high  festival,  mingled  her 
exultant  songs  of  triumph  with  their  sobs  and  dirges. 

And  henceforward,  through  the  still  watches  of  the 
night,  when  everyone  was  asleep,  Dame  Sarah  sang  her 
psalms  and  exulted  over  her  fallen  and  humiliated  ene- 
mies. 

Who  could  forbid  a  poor  forlorn  widow  to  seek  com- 
fort for  her  afflicted  soul  in  spiritual  songs? 

As  for  Henry  Catsrider,  he  was  driven  from  his  pro- 
fession three  days  later  for  putting  to  shame  the  dignity 
of  his  office,  the  reputation  of  the  city,  and  the  majesty 
of  the  law  by  his  bungling.  On  the  same  scaffold  which 
he  himself  had  erected  his  own  apprentices  tore  his  red 
mantle  from  his  shoulders  and  the  red  cap  from  his  head, 
struck  him  three  times  in  the  face  before  all  the  people 
with  the  great  silver  seal  hanging  round  his  neck  (which 
was  a  gift  from  the  King  of  Poland),  and  finally  drove 
him  away  amid  the  derisive  laughter  of  the  crowd. 

What  became  of  the  degraded  headsman,  how  and 
where  he  ended  his  days,  on  these  points  nothing  has 
ever  been  recorded. 


ai 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

In  which  it  is  shown  how  ghosts  haunt  churchyards. 

The  adherents  of  the  disgraced  faction  did  not  cease 
persecuting  Valentine  Kalondai, 

From  the  very  first  they  had  sent  pursuers  after  him 
who  had  followed  hard  upon  the  fugitive;  but  at  a  cer- 
tain inn,  when  they  were  already  close  upon  him,  two 
men,  evidently  instructed  beforehand,  met  him  with  a 
fresh  horse.  The  fugitive  mounted  and  was  instantly  off 
again,  while  his  pursuers  thought  it  best  to  -slowly  ride 
their  jaded  nags  back   to  town. 

The  new  superrector,  young  Ignatius  Zwirina,  calcu- 
lated thus :  Valentine  Kalondai  will  one  of  these  days 
come  back  of  his  own  accord  to  the  neighborhood  of 
Kassa.  His  beloved  rests  there  in  the  churchyard  ditch, 
and  he  will  never  be  able  to  keep  away  from  the  spot 
where  she  whom  he  loves  so  much  reposes. 

So  in  the  ditch  where  pretty  Michal  had  been  cast  he 
kept  nine  musketeers  in  ambush,  night  and  day,  that 
they  might  seize  Valentine  when  he  came  thither,  and 
shoot  him  down  if  he  sought  to  fly. 

The  trap  was  laid  for  him,  and  they  made  certain  that 
he  would  fall  into  it. 

Nor  did  he  remain  long  away. 

In  the  first  stormy  night,  when  the  Lenten  wind  drove 
the  shapeless  clouds  from  one  end  of  the  sky  to  the  other 
and  shook  the  leafless  trees,  and  the  will-o'-the-wisps 
darted  about  among  the  graves,  a  lonely  horseman  ap- 
proached the  churchyard  from  the  plains. 

320 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  321 

A  poplar  which  had  been  torn  down  by  the  storm 
marked  the  spot  where  pretty  Michal  lay. 

"I  hear  the  tramp  of  horses'  hoofs,"  murmured  one  of 
the  musketeers  in  the  ditch. 

"What  if  it  be  the  devil  riding  on  a  buck-goat?" 

"Yes,  indeed,  who  else  would  think  of  riding  over  the 
plains  at  such  a  time?" 

"Look  how  the  will-o'-the-wisps  are  dancing!"  said 
a  third,  raising  his  head  a  little  above  the  ditch. 

From  time  to  time,  a  reddish  tongue  of  flame  shot  up 
from  among  the  graves,  casting  a  lurid  glimmer  on  the 
angels  praying  on  the  monuments. 

Then  it  seemed  as  if  the  deep  notes  of  a  horn  were 
mingling  with  the  howling  of  the  storm.  It  sounded  like 
a  subterranean  music.  A  shudder  ran  down  the  backs 
of  the  musketeers  in  the  ditch  and  their  teeth  chattered. 

"An  accursed  signal  that!" 

When  the  midnight  rider  reached  the  churchyard,  he 
dismounted  from  his  horse,  bound  it  to  an  elderberry 
tree,  and  replied  to  the  signal  with  a  trumpet-blast  of  his 
own,  whereupon  a  spectral  flame  shot  up  among  the  tomb- 
stones. 

"Do  you  hear  that?  The  devils  are  answering  one  an- 
other." 

"It  is  either  the  devil  or  Valentine  Kalondai." 

"If  it  be  Valentine  Kalondai  he  will  come  hither,  and 
we  will  take  him  prisoner;  but  if  it  be  the  devil  'twere 
best  to  leave  him  alone." 

That  was  very  sage  advice,  certainly. 

The  horseman  found  the  churchyard-gate  open  and 
went  in. 

He  went  straight  to  the  spot  where  he  had  seen  the 
flames  shoot  up. 

It  was  no  will-o'-the-wisp,  no  perambulating  spirit,  but 


322  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

Simplex,  who,  to  scare  the  watchers  and  guide  Valentine, 
had  ignited  lycopodium  powder  from  time  to  time. 

"Hush!"  said  he  to  his  approaching  friend,  "they 
are  on  the  watch." 

"Let  them  watch!"  murmured  Valentine;  "I  have  a 
sword  with  me.  Though  I  should  die  on  the  spot  for  it, 
I  mean  to  speak  to  my  beloved." 

"You  shall  speak  to  her.  Follow  me!  but  duck  your 
head  that  they  may  not  see  us." 

With  that  he  led  Valentine  along  among  the  graves  till 
they  came  to  a  large  monument.  It  was  a  red  marble 
obelisk,  surmounted  by  a  wreathed  urn.  The  bed  round 
the  grave  was  planted  with  violets  and  primroses  with  an 
ivy  border.      On  the  pediment  lay  several  wreaths 

"Look  there!"  said  Simplex,  drawing  a  dark  lantern 
from  beneath  his  mantle;   '"look  and  read!" 

Valentine  drew  near  and  saw  on  the  splendid  monu- 
ment the  name,  "Augustus  Zwirina,"  followed  by  a  long 
litany  of  the  deeds  and  services  of  that  distinguished 
citizen. 

"Why  have  you  led  me  to  the  grave  of  my  mortal  foe?" 
asked  Valentine  sternly. 

"It  is  not  your  mortal  foe  who  sleeps  here,"  returned 
Simplex,  "but  pretty  Michal.  The  night  after  they  had 
buried  your  mortal  foe,  I  came  to  the  churchyard  with 
the  faithful  Ali.  Then  we  set  to  work  and  dug  out  the 
coffin  of  pretty  Michal  and  brought  it  hither,  and  placed 
it  where  the  coffin  of  Zwirina  had  been  laid,  and  now  you 
can  be  quite  easy  in  your  mind,  for  your  beloved  reposes 
in  consecrated  ground,  and  flowers  bloom  over  her  all  the 
year  round." 

Valentine  threw  himself  with  his  face  to  the  ground. 

"Listen  how  the  ghosts  are  weeping!"  said  one  of  the 
watchers  to  his  comrade. 


PRETTY  MTCHAL.  323 

"Depend  upon  it,  Beelzebub  is  tormenting  them!" 

"Don't  look  back  or  they'll  twist  your  neck  for  you!" 

After  Valentine  had  wept  to  his  heart's  content,  and 
consoled  himself  with  the  reflection  that  his  tears  would 
filter  through  the  mound  to  his  sleeping  love  and  give  hei 
sweeter  dreams,  he  arose  and  said  to  Simplex: 

"But  suppose  the  thing  becomes  known?" 

"There  are  only  three  of  us  who  know  anything  about 
it.  One  is  Ali  the  Turk;  your  mother  has  emancipated 
him,  and  he  has  now  gone  home  to  Thessaly.  The  second 
is  the  grave,  and  the  grave  tells  no  tales.  I  myself  am 
the  third,  and  I  can  keep  as  silent  as  the  grave." 

Valentine  pressed  his  faithful  friend  to  his  heart  and 
covered  him  with  kisses.  And  then  he  kissed  the  grave 
and  the  flowers  which  covered  it. 

"Don't  you  hear  how  the  specters  are  kissing  each 
other?"  whispered  one  of  the  musketeers. 

"No  doubt  Lucifer  is  caressing  them!" 

"And  whither  then  have  you  removed  Augustus 
Zwirina?" 

"Why,  where  he  ought  to  be,  of  course!  We  laid  the 
good  man  in  the  churchyard  ditch  in  the  place  intended 
for  Michal,  and  all  the  asses  of  the  town  will  come  and 
nibble  their  thistles  over  his  head  from  one  year's  end  to 
the  other." 

"Listen  how  the  ghosts  are  laughing!" 

"I  would  not  go  among  them  if  they  gave  me  the  whole 
city  of  Kassa." 

Even  the  howling  wind  seemed  to  take  up  the  ghostly 
laughter  and  carry  it  on  further.  It  was  indeed  a 
ghastly  jest — a  jest  fit  even  to  provoke  a  loud  peal  of 
laughter  in  a  churchyard  at  midnight,  that  pretty  Michal 
and  the  author  of  her  death  should  have  changed  places 
with  each  other,  that  pretty  Michal  should  have  been  laid 


324  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

in  the  flower-strewn  bed,  in  the  grave  dug  in  consecrated 
ground  and  watered  with  tears,  while  the  author  of  her 
death  should  have  been  cast  forth  into  the  churchyard 
ditch,  to  gaze  up  at  the  asses  when  they  came  to  chew 
the  thistles  over  his  head. 

"Now  that  you  have  spoken  with  your  beloved,  hasten 
away ! ' ' 

"God  bless  you,  my  loyal  comrade!  Greet  my  dear 
mother.  Tell  her  that  to-morrow  I  am  off  to  the  wars. 
Eger  is  to  be  stormed.  Tell  her  to  pray  that  I  may  die 
a  glorious  death!" 

With  that  he  hastened  back  to  his  horse  and  darted 
away  into  the  waste  night. 

"The  ghost  is  riding  back  to  his  realm!" 

"All  good  spirits  praise  the  Lord!" 

And  if  Dame  Sarah  prayed  as  her  son  desired  her,  her 
prayer  was  certainly  heard  in  heaven.  At  the  brilliant 
assault  by  which  the  city  of  Eger  was  won  back  to  Hun- 
gary, Valentine  Kalondai  died  a  hero's  death  on  the  field 
of  honor. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

In  which  everyone  at  last  gets  his  deserts. 

Old  Zurdoki,  whose  unseemly  amours  had  been  the 
cause  of  the  tragedy  of  two  loving  hearts,  so  far  from 
being  sobered  by  this  sad  occurrence,  so  far  from  taking 
to  heart  the  blood  of  the  gentle  lady  which  had  flowed 
through  his  foul  fault,  had  no  sooner  escaped  from  Po- 
land with  a  part  of  the  Prince's  routed  troops  (the  rest 
had  been  carried  away  captive  to  the  Crimea  by  the 
Tartars)  than  he  set  about  another  evil  prank.  Failing 
to  seduce  one  of  the  pretty  women,  he  now  spread  his 
nets  for  the  second. 

Here,  too,  he  soon  found  a  willing  go-between.  Even 
if  Red  Barbara  were  no  more,  there  was  still  enough  of 
witches  and  to  spare.  Was  not  Annie,  the  wife  of  the 
kopanitschar,  at  hand?  So  far  from  being  scared  at  the 
fearful  fate  of  her  superior,  she  burned  to  occupy  the 
vacant  place  of  honor  in  the  witches'  ranks.  For  the 
saying  of  the  sages,  that  from  the  blood  of  one  martyr  a 
hundred  others  spring  up,  is  equally  true  when  applied  to 
evil-doers.  Among  sinners  also  there  are  enthusiasts  who 
count  it  an  honor  to  suffer  for  hell,  and  where  one  felon 
is  executed  a  hundred  are  always  ready  to  step  into  his 
shoes.  This  was  especially  the  case  with  witches.  The 
burnt  and  tortured  members  of  that  grim  sisterhood 
always  had  immediate  and  innumerable  successors.  The 
world  seemed  too  small  to  hold  them  all.  The  love  of 
evil  notoriety  took  possession  of  them  like  a  sort  of  intoxi- 


$26  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

cation,  and  plunged  into  the  abyss  even  those  who  other- 
wise would  never  have  thought  of  becoming  witches.  It 
is  thus  that  we  are  able  to  explain  why  Annie  undertook 
a  far  more  dangerous  commission  than  even  that  by 
which  Barbara  had  found  her  death.  Moreover,  the 
dazzling  promises  of  Zurdoki,  who  was  no  niggard  with 
his  money,  had  also  great  weight  with  her.  And  Zur- 
doki was  now  richer  than  ever.  George  Rakoczy,  when 
the  Crim  Tartars  invaded  Hungary,  had  intrusted  the 
whole  of  his  treasures  to  Zurdoki  to  conceal  them  in 
Berga  Castle.  On  the  way  thither  as  much  of  this  treas- 
ure might  be  lost  as  Zurdoki  pleased.  Who  amid  the 
hurly-burly  of  those  troubled  times  would  ever  think  of 
calling  him  to  account  for  it? 

So  Zurdoki  intrusted  to  Annie  the  billet-doux  which 
he  had  written  to  the  lovely  Isabella,  the  spouse  of  Count 
Hommonai.  He  had  not  been  very  particular  in  his 
style,  nor  had  he  wasted  his  ardor  in  romantic  effusive- 
ness, but  he  went  straight  to  the  point  like  the  man  of 
business  he  was.  He  said  he  was  ten  times  richer  than 
Hommonai,  and  if  the  countess  were  kind  to  him,  he 
would  give  her  three  hundred  ducats  down  and  a  dia- 
mond collar  such  as  princesses  wear,  besides  making  a 
will  in  her  favor,  whereby  she  would  inherit  after  his 
death  a  city,  a  castle,  two-and-twenty  villages,  and  all  the 
flocks,  herds,  and  studs  thereunto  belonging. 

Zurdoki,  therefore,  did  not  woo  very  romantically, 
Derhaps,  but  for  all  that  the  letter  was  full  of  burning 
love.  He  thought  that  the  handsomeness  of  the  gift 
would  make  the  lovely  lady  forget  the  ugliness  of  the 
giver. 

But  Isabella  was  very  wroth  when  she  received  this 
shameful  proposal.  She  immediately  took  the  letter  to 
her  husband,  and  begged  him  to  order  the  bearer  of  it  to 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  3^7 

be  exemplarily  whipped.  They  were  then  dwelling  at 
their  castle  at  Saros. 

"No,"  said  Count  Hommonai ;  "why  whip  the  bearer 
of  the  letter,  it  is  the  writer  who  deserves  a  whipping." 
And  he  there  and  then  dictated  to  his  wife  the  answer 
she  was  to  send  to  Zurdoki,  which  was  so  worded  as  to 
seem  to  consent  to  his  proposition. 

Annie,  whom  Isabella  also  rewarded  most  handsomely, 
took  back  the  letter  and  delivered  it  to  the  ancient  Cela- 
don. 

The  object  of  Hommonai's  stratagem  was  to  get  Zur- 
doki into  his  hands,  so  Zurdoki  fell  into  the  trap  which 
he  himself  had  laid. 

Count  Hommonai  had  an  occasion  ready  to  hand.  He 
had  a  pair  of  old  retainers,  a  coachman  and  a  female 
lodge-keeper,  both  of  Turkish  extraction,  and  living  to- 
gether as  man  and  wife  after  the  Turkish  fashion.  These 
the  count  had  converted  to  the  Calvinistic  Christian 
faith,  and  now  they  were  to  be  united  at  the  altar  accord- 
ing to  the  Christian  rite. 

Such  cases  used  to  make  a  great  sensation,  for  in  those 
days,  when  the  Turk  was  a  mighty  potentate  who  had 
two-thirds  of  Hungary  in  his  power,  and  kept  the  remain- 
ing third  in  constant  fear  and  trembling,  it  was  an  extra- 
ordinary phenomenon  when  a  Mussulman  pair  voluntarily 
denied  the  Prophet  and  went  over  to  the  Christian  faith. 
Therefore,  all  the  neighboring  gentry  were  invited  from 
far  and  near,  and  most  of  them  came,  so  that  Count 
Hommonai's  castle  had  to  be  enlarged  in  all  haste  by 
wooden  annexes,  so  as  to  provide  suitable  accommoda- 
tion for  the  servants  of  so  many  guests. 

To  this  memorable  wedding  Zurdoki  was  also  invited. 
Indeed  it  may  be  said  that  it  was  mainly  on  his  account 
that  the  whole  affair  was  got  up. 


328  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

He  was  well  aware  of  this ;  but  he  fancied  that  the 
lady  had  arranged  it  all  for  love  of  him,  whereas  it  was 
the  husband's  doings,  and  there  is  always  a  great  differ- 
ence between  the  motives  of  a  husband  and  the  motives 
of  a  wife. 

Zurdoki  arrived  on  the  day  of  the  wedding  and  brought 
thirty  retainers  with  him.  Hommonai  received  him  very 
heartily,  and  did  not  once  allude  to  the  old  theme  of  dis- 
pute; nay,  he  even  allowed  the  old  coxcomb  to  dance 
attendance  upon  his  wife  and  whisper  all  sorts  of  tender 
compliments  in  her  ear. 

The  ceremony  was  conducted  with  all  due  solemnity, 
and  the  behavior  of  the  converted  couple  engrossed  all 
the  attention  of  the  assembled  guests.  They  could  talk 
of  nothing  but  how  the  bridegroom  could  not  draw  the 
ring  off  his  finger;  how  he  gave  the  bride  his  left  hand 
instead  of  his  right;  how  the  bride,  under  the  influence 
of  the  baptismal  water,  began  to  sneeze;  and  how  the 
bridegroom  drained  the  chalice  to  the  very  dregs  instead 
of  only  sipping  it;  and  how  both  of  them,  when  they 
should  have  said  "yes,"  only  shook  their  heads,  which, 
with  the  Turks,  signifies  assent.  Who,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, had  any  time  to  notice  that  Zurdoki  was 
constantly  whispering  to  the  lady  of  the  house? 

Next  followed  a  splendid  banquet  of  four-and-twenty 
courses.  During  the  meal  Simplex  played  on  the  faro- 
gato,  so  as  to  put  even  the  gypsy  musicians  to  shame. 
Since  Valentine's  death  he  had  entered  the  service  of 
Count  Hommonai  as  trumpeter,  at  a  salary  of  five  hun- 
dred gulden  and  his  keep,  which  shows  in  what  high 
estimation  a  skillful  trumpeter  was  held  in  those  days. 

After  the  meal  was  over  the  ladies  withdrew  to  their 
rooms  to  dress  for  the  dance,  but  the  gentlemen  remained 
behind  over  their  cups. 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  329 

Then,  according  to  a  good  old  custom  of  Russian 
origin,  the  "fratina"  went  from  hand  to  hand.  This 
"fratina"  was  a  silver  pocal,  set  with  precious  stones 
and  engraved  with  many  sage  saws,  and  the  men  drank 
to  each  other  out  of  it  and  drained  it  to  the  very  dregs. 
No  one  laughed  at  him  who  fell  in  this  contest.  The 
servants  simply  picked  him  up  and  carried  him  into  his 
bedroom,  that  he  might  there  sleep  off  his  carouse. 

He  to  whose  head  the  wine  flew  soonest  was  the  host 
himself.  He  very  soon  had  had  enough,  and  laid  his 
head  down  on  the  table.  They  quickly  carried  him 
away. 

"This  wine  really  is  very  strong,"  said  Zurdoki.  "I 
suppose  the  vintage  is  of  the  year  of  the  great  comet? 
It  has  got  into  my  head  too."  And  with  that  his  tongue 
began  to  loll  out,  his  head  sank  back  in  his  easy-chair, 
and  the  tankard  fell  from  his  hand. 

"He's  had  his  fill  too,"  said  the  guests,  whereupon 
four  servants  raised  him  from  his  chair  and  carried  him 
to  his  room. 

But  Zurdoki  was  not  drunk  after  all ;  he  had  only  been 
pretending.  As  soon  as  he  was  alone  in  his  room  he 
locked  the  door,  and  sought  for  a  tapestried  door  con- 
cealed at  the  foot  of  the  bed.  Through  this  he  pro- 
ceeded to  a  little  corridor  which  led  direct  into  the 
countess's  room. 

The  time  of  the  rendezvous  could  not  have  been  better 
chosen.  The  guests  who  had  not  already  succumbed  to 
the  wine  proceeded  from  the  dining-room  to  the  dancing- 
room,  and  there  practiced  a  martial  dance  among  them- 
selves till  the  fumes  of  the  wine  had  evaporated  and  the 
ladies  assembled,  when  they  began  to  dance  together  the 
palotds,  the  polonaise,  the  torch  dance,  and  the  dance  of 
the  three  hundred  widows. 


330  PRETTY  MICH  A  L. 

No  one  thought  of  the  absent. 

Zurdoki  found  the  countess  in  her  chamber;  she  had 
been  waiting  for  him,  and  was  quite  alone. 

The  old  inamorato  at  once  fell  down  upon  his  knees 
before  the  lovely  lady,  and  to  convince  her  of  the  sin- 
cerity of  his  passion  laid  at  her  feet  the  promised  gifts; 
a  purse  filled  with  gold,  the  collar  of  brilliants,  and  the 
will  and  testament,  authenticated  by  the  seal  of  a  cathe- 
dral chapter. 

"All  this  is  thine,  my  beloved,  if  thou  wilt  receive  me 
favorably." 

"Get  up,  sir!  and  you  will  certainly  have  a  warm  re- 
ception," replied  the  lovely  Isabella. 

At  this  the  enamored  old  buck  sprang  to  his  feet,  as 
fiery  and  lusty  as  a  young  weasel. 

On  the  wall  opposite  were  life-size  portraits  of  Count 
Hommonai  and  his  wife,  but  between  them  hung  a  beau- 
tiful Venetian  mirror  in  a  cut-glass  frame.  The  old  vul- 
ture placed  himself  before  this  mirror,  and,  stroking  his 
gray  mustache,  exclaimed  very  complacently,  as  if  rejoic- 
ing in  his  beauty:  "Come  now,  my  lord  Count  Hom- 
monai, which  of  us  two  is  the  handsomer  fellow  now?" 

"Why,  I  am,  of  course,  and  always  shall  be!"  cried 
Count  Hommonai ;  for  he  was  behind  the  picture,  which 
opened  like  a  tapestried  door,  and  out  he  stepped. 

The  terror-stricken  Zurdoki  stood  there  with  his  mouth 
wide  open.  He  now  perceived  that  they  had  been  fool- 
ing him  all  along. 

Count  Hommonai  did  not  exchange  many  words  with 
him,  but  seized  him  by  the  collar  and  thrust  him  into  the 
room  where  all  the  other  guests  were  dancing.  They 
were  not  a  little  astonished  to  see  their  host  and  his  friend, 
who,  as  they  fancied,  had  been  overcome  with  wine,  now 
appear  among  them  quite  brisk  and  sober.     But  what 


PRETTY  MICH  A  L.  ZZ^ 

astonished  them  still  more  was  the  circumstance,  that 
whereas  they  had  both  been  carried  off  to  their  respective 
bedrooms  a  few  moments  before,  they  now  both  came 
out  of  the  countess's  chamber. 

"Look,  gentlemen  I"  cried  the  count  derisively,  "look 
at  that  old  buck-goat  who  would  fain  browse  in  my  gar- 
den!" 

At  this,  a  roar  of  laughter  greeted  the  discomfited 
Lothario,  and  his  terror  at  being  caught  in  forbidden 
ways  now  turned  into  furious  rage  at  being  mocked  in 
public.  Perceiving  his  page,  to  whom  he  had  intrusted 
his  sword  when  he  sat  down  at  table,  he  beckoned  to 
him,  tore  the  weapon  from  his  hand,  and  planting  him- 
self in  front  of  Hommonai,  exclaimed  : 

"Shame,  confusion  on  you,  to  entice  a  nobleman  into 
a  trap  and  ridicule  your  guest  in  your  own  house !  But 
you  shall  not  boast  of  it  to  anyone,  and  the  marriage  feast 
which  you  arranged  on  my  account  shall  now  be  turned 
into  a  funeral  wake.     You  must  fight  me,  sir!" 

Hommonai's  only  intention  had  been  to  make  the  old 
libertine  a  butt  and  a  laughing-stock.  He  had,  therefore, 
no  weapon  with  him.  But  when  Zurdoki  drew  his  sword 
and  challenged  him  to  single  combat,  he  also  called  his 
page,  sent  him  for  a  rapier,  and  stood  on  his  defense. 
The  guests  in  the  hall  fell  back  to  give  the  combatants 
room.  Nobody  attempted  to  intervene.  It  was  only 
right  that  such  an  insult  should  be  settled  by  arms. 

First  the  furious  Zurdoki  aimed  a  mighy  blow  at  the 
count,  but  miscalculating  the  length  of  his  saber,  the 
point  of  his  weapon  only  grazed  the  yellow,  gold-gal- 
looned  jack-boots  of  the  count,  and  then  struck  the  floor. 
But  the  blow  which  Hommonai  dealt  him  in  return  settled 
him  on  the  spot,  and  he  breathed  forth  his  filthy  soul  at 
the  feet  of  the  aggrieved  husband. 


332  PRETTY  MICHAL. 

And  everyone  present  said  it  served  him  right.  Hom- 
monai  ought  to  have  killed  him  a  year  ago  at  least.  Then 
Zurdoki  would  not  have  persuaded  Prince  George  Ra- 
koczy  to  undertake  his  unlucky  campaign,  then  many 
good  Hungarian  warriors  would  not  have  fallen  into  cap- 
tivity, and  Hungary  and  Transylvania  would  not  have 
been  wasted  with  fire  and  sword. 

But  when  the  Countess  Isabella  heard  that  her  husband 
had  killed  the  old  fool,  she  said : 

"What  a  pity  he  had  but  one  life!  He  has  only 
atoned  for  the  blood  of  my  poor  Michal.  Valentine  Ka- 
londai  is  still  unavenged." 

They  then  called  the  maids,  who  cleansed  the  floor 
with  hot  water.  Meanwhile  the  host  led  his  guests  into 
the  castle  gardens,  and  told  them  of  all  the  miserable 
plots  in  which  the  evil-minded  old  libertine  had  played  a 
part,  down  to  his  latest  intrigue  when  he  had  attempted 
to  seduce  the  countess.  To  prove  his  words  he  pro- 
duced the  gifts  and  the  will  which  were  to  have  served  as 
a  decoy,  and  gave  them  to  the  Protestant  bishop  who  had 
celebrated  the  wedding  of  the  Turkish  couple,  that  he 
might  employ  them  for  the  benefit  of  the  College  of 
Sarospatak.  Zurdoki  had  spent  not  a  farthing  on  church 
or  school,  but  now  his  sinful  liberality  was  to  be  turned 
to  pious  uses. 

Then  they  returned  to  the  dancing-room ;  the  fiddles, 
flutes,  and  farogatos  struck  up,  and  the  guests  danced 
over  the  very  spot  where  Zurdoki's  blood  had  flowed, 
just  as  if  absolutely  nothing  had  occurred. 

And  surely  you  cannot  express  your  contempt  for  a 
man  more  emphatically  than  by  dancing  over  the  spot 
where  his  blood  has  been,  only  an  hour  after  his  death! 

Simplex,   from   whose   contemporary   diary   we   have 


PRETTY  MICHAL.  ZZl 

compiled  this  history,  most  of  whose  events  the  narrator 
had  himself  witnessed  and  experienced,  subsequently 
entered  the  service  of  Achatius  Baresai,  whom  the  Padi- 
shah had  made  Prince  of  Transylvania  in  George  Ra- 
koczy's  stead.  He  also  accompanied  his  Highness  on  his 
journey  to  Turkey.  His  latest  memoirs  are  dated  from 
Stamboul.  What  ultimately  became  of  him  no  one  has 
ever  been  able  to  find  out. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

All  things  pass  away ,  but  science  remains  eternal. 

But  the  learned  Professor  David  Frohlich  continued 
for  many  years  to  implant  the  sciences  in  the  youthful 
mind,  and  enrich  the  world  with  his  inventions,  Down 
to  the  very  day  of  his  death  he  was  in  constant  corre- 
spondence with  the  most  distinguished  European  scholars, 
and  was  still  informed  about  everything  which  was  going 
on  in  foreign  parts. 

But  what  had  become  of  his  daughter  Michal  he  never 
could  find  out. 

Oftentimes,  indeed,  he  would  cast  her  horoscope  and 
compare  its  various  aspects;  but  he  always  arrived  at 
precisely  the  same  conclusion,  viz.,  that  his  daughter 
Michal  was  now  leading  a  most  blissful  life  in  some  far- 
distant  land,  the  very  name  of  which  was  unknown  to 
him. 

And  perhaps  it  really  was  so! 


THE  END. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
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